Nothing Left
by The Legendary Zero
Summary: Everything he had ever done was for Nunally. Now she was dead, and it was all his fault. Does he have any reason left to live? Does he have any reason to fight Britannia? Just one. LelouchxKallen.
1. The Death

**Nothing Left - Ch.1**

**Author's Note: I got sucked into Code Geass, and found that I just had to write this. Hope you like it. This is going to be 2-4 chapters most likely. Note that Suzaku does not know that Lelouch has resumed his role as Zero, he thinks that Zero is an imposter this time.**

**Summary: Everything he had ever done was for Nunally. For her happiness. Now she was dead, and it was all because of him.**

**Setting: R2 Episode 6. Note that it starts with a few lines of the ending of this episode, but I shape my own story after.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Code Geass**_** or any of its characters**

**--**

"Come with me!,"yelled Zero to Nunally. Suzaku Kururugi had taken away too many victories from Zero, and now, Suzaku was trying to take Nunally away from him.

They were in the floating fortress that was taking Governer Nunally to the mainland, the Order of the Black Knights had intervened and assaulted the battlecruiser. The mission to capture her already became a failure when three of the Knights of Round had come. Dozens of Burai led by subordinate black knights had been destroyed in mere minutes, and two of the Holy Blades were lost, along with their Knightmares. Toudou had had to pull out of the base and rejoin the Guren Type Two to fight off the Knights of Round.

The Z0-1 weapon Lancelot tore into the artificial courtyard where Nunally and Zero were, causing a vacuum effect due to high altitude. Meaning that there was a suction pulling on everything inside the courtyard. Despite facing the experimental weapon that was the new generation of Knightmare, all the terrorist leader could do was try to reach Nunally. Gentle, sweet, Nunally who had never done a crime in her life. She who had been denied the right _to_ even pull a crime because of Britannia.

"Nunally!,"shouted both Lelouch and Suzaku. Suzaku accelerated the Lancelot gently and grabbed Nunally, who had threatened to fly out of her wheelchair due to her delicate form. Lelouch took a few steps, unfortunately losing his attraction to the ground in doing so. Suzaku saw him, and was tempted to destroy the "imposter" Zero. But a wild thought wormed its way into his mind, 'If it was Lelouch, how could I kill him in front of Nunally?' He shook his head from the thought. Lelouch was at home. For now, he was Suzaku's best friend. This man was not -could not- be Lelouch. Unfortunately for Suzaku, his thoughts kept him from actually acting until it was too late to do anything about Zero, the fortress shook with an explosion, and dropped nose-down.

Lelouch was blessed with a moment of luck - he landed on Lancelot's foot, right before Lancelot tore off through the hole it made, leaving the doomed ship. As soon as they were clear of the falling ship however, Lelouch did his most irrational and foolish calculation ever: he took out his pistol and fired the Knightmare's cockpit. Though the bullet did nothing more than make a _bang!_ sound, it was enough for Suzaku to fumble with his controls, and the hand sheltering Nunally involunteraly jerked, forcing her out of safety and into a wild free fall.

Lelouch immediantly jumped off the Lancelot, trying to catch Nunally as she fell. He didn't even remember to scream while he fell to his death. He was inches away from Nunally's arm, he moved it closer, and tried to accelerate his fall. Lelouch reached out and grabbed Nunally, but she could tell who's gloved hand it was and jerked away.

"Nunally! It's me!"

"Lelou-?,"before she could finish, Lelouch grabbed hold of her again, and this time the confused girl didn't pull away.

'If we die...we die together,' he thought. That sentiment did not come to pass.

Meanwhile, the Guren had just used the special Gefjun pulse emitter to paralyze the two other Knights of Round Knightmares, Tristan and Mordred. Toudou had managed to get his damaged Knightmare to safety, unfortunately leaving Kallen with only her Nuclear Pulse Emitter and the Float system to defend herself. That's when the Guren registered two foreign thermal objects falling behind her. Her first thought was missiles, but then she saw the black cape of Zero fluttering in the air, and realized that the only hope for Japan and his sister were falling to their deaths. Forgetting the two Knights of Round, she pushed dangerously hard on the forward control, grinding the gears and machinery together. The Guren moved forward at once, outstretching the hand without Rakshata's modification.

The Lancelot was still unmoving, Suzaku pleaded and pushed on the controls, even though he knew that he was stuck. When that arm jerked, it did two things, move counterclockwise, and grind two dangerously close gears to the point of breaking. The Lancelot was still only experimental, the Guren was not, so the Guren was able to move despite the grinding. Any other time the Avalon could pick Lancelot up and fix the glitch. This was not that time. He couldn't even use the other arm to catch Nunally, or move the float system for that matter. The arm had somehow crossed two circuits or machines, and were making it so the body could not move up or down.

Kallen prayed that when she caught the two falling figures, they would not die upon hitting the hard metal of the Guren's hand. Even though they were holding hands, Kallen could not take both of them on her hand, they would be killed upon hitting the steel. If she let them fall into the water, they would be killed the same way, due to the fact they had fallen from such a height. There was only one option. She could grab the clothing of one of them, not the neck of course, but any other place in the body, and hopefully the clothing would not snap while she took them into her hand. However, if she did grab one, the other would have to let go because of the sudden halt of the partner.

It didn't take a genius to figure out who was more important.

She grimly took hold of Lelouch's billowing cape, which only connected to his shoulders, not the neck, and could only watch as Nunally was forced to break her hold. She would hit the water in only a few seconds, and the force of the initial splash would...be enough.

Abandoning his last sense of rational thought, Lelouch leapt from the Guren's hand and dove to Nunally again. When he hit the water, he was not affected due to the diving board length drop. He sputtered for a moment in the cold water before diving, and there he saw her.

She was an angel that was losing its light. That was the only thing that could describe the scene. She was already dead, but Lelouch didn't even care, the madness of the moment told him that as long as Nunally's form was with him, it would be all right. He tried to swim to her, but before he moved more than a few feet, he found himself hoisted into the sun by the Guren. Kallen had opened the cockpit for him.

"Lelouch! Get in!", she pleaded. She knew he wouldn't though, he was sitting on the hand, mouth wide open, his eyes twitching in their sockets. He fainted. Kallen cursed and closed the cockpit as she saw the Britannian helicopters approaching. She hurried back towards the Knightmare carrier, sheltering Lelouch from harm.

--

-_Order of the Black Knights H.Q-_

Toudou carried the unconscious masked man silently. When the Knights had first seen him, they had mistaken the condition for death, but even when it was confirmed that he was alive, the Black Knights started whispering amongst themselves. The great leader had been defeated, and he had barely escaped with his life, not to mention that Governer Nunally was dead, causing unrest among the Japanese - after all, a child for governer was more innocent than a hardened brigadier general, or anyone from the military for that matter. The failed assault had certainly set them back by quite a huge amount. Senba of the Four Holy blades had perished in the battle, and two of the Holy Blade Knightmares had been lost, their pilots barely escaping. The other member of the Holy Blades, Ubare, had fallen to the Vincent in the Babel Tower weeks earlier, leaving only Toudou's broken Knightmare as the last reminder of the group. Popularity for the Black Knights had been shaken due to the killing of an unarmed, innocent child (Britannia was quick to blame the Order as the ones at fault, when it was they who put her in that position in the first place). Dozens of Burai had been lost as well, and the Kyoto Group refused to replace all the losses, commenting that the attack had no reason to fail while they had the Guren. Seeing Zero's broken body did nothing for morale. Even the loud mouth Tamaki was silenced upon seeing the "invulnerable" leader helpless.

Kallen followed Toudou as he carried Zero to his private quarters. She actually dreaded the awakening of her leader. Nunally had been his sister, and the one thing Kallen could say about Lelouch the student (that was good) was that he cared for that little blind girl more than he could ever care for himself.

Toudou layed down the leader in his bed, made a silent prayer, and walked off. Kallen watched Zero in fear for a moment. If Lelouch had lost his will to fight, than Japan was doomed. Karen Kozuki could never exist, there would be only that hollow, quiet, Kallen Stadtfeld. C.C suddenly appeared, almost making Kallen jump.

"Is he able?", asked C.C.

"He fainted."

C.C got a funny look on her face,"Lelouch? Faint?"

Kallen faced the inquisitive witch almost angrily,"His sister is dead."

C.C actually gasped at that, a rare enough thing.

Kallen continued,"She died right in front of him. I'm scared."

The green-haired woman tilted her head questioningly,"For him? Or for yourself?"

Kallen stared C.C down again,"What does that mean?"

"I'm sorry if it sounded like I thought you were selfish. But everyone is fighting for themselves here, not only you."

It was Kallen's turn to be confused,"What are you talking about?! I fight for Japan! We're all fighting for Japan together. How is that selfish?"

C.C shook her head,"It seems to me like the Japanese cannot let their past go and embrace Britannia's rule. There is nearly half the world that agrees with Britannia, and the Japanese do not care for those that do. They only believe in their conquered country, and give their lives for it. That is why it is selfish to fight for something because you didn't like it. It doesn't really matter to me though, as long as it gives Lelouch the power he needs."

Kallen could tell that there was no point arguing with C.C, so she instead posed a question the Black Knights murmered amongst themselves:

"Why did you give Lelouch the Geass? Why do you follow him? Why-?

"I do not follow him. He is my partner in this contract. I gave him the Geass because he was the most suitable person for it. Now let me ask my question again, are you scared for Lelouch, or for Karen Kozuki?"

Kallen, though indignant, did not answer immediantly. She did not think she cared much about Lelouch, the dark haired boy, always manipulating someone, whether at school or in the battlefield, and smiling while he did it. She cared for Zero, she was scared for Zero, and that was what she believed. But Zero was Lelouch, so that must have meant she cared for Lelouch. That didn't sound right either.

She shook her head, all she had succeeded in doing was throughly confusing herself. In a way, she felt as if she had a deep love for Zero, and a great disliking for Lelouch. They were two halves on the same coin, and she couldn't just take Zero's half and walk away.

"I am scared...for Lelouch, and for myself,"she finally decided. She had meant to say that she was scared for Zero, but she finally realized that Lelouch and Zero had always shared the same beliefs, the same lives, and the same loves. She wanted to respect and care for Lelouch as much as she did for Zero, because Karen Kozuki knew the pain of loss he had been carrying all his life, and knew the pain of losing her family. Naoto had meant as much as Nunally did to Lelouch, and her mother, who now confined to a Britannian cell for twenty years, was also another loss in her life. Kallen could never be strong enough to keep moving as Lelouch did. That boy had lost his mother and first handedly witness it, and was able to move on. He was able to renounce a title as Britannian prince, forcing him out of the comforts of his life. He was able to come to terms for Nunally's losses and love her all the same. He was able to rally an entire country of people under his will, and still keep that calm smile on his face every day. Kallen shivered at the kind of man it took to live on after all of that.

And now she was scared that he had finally lost the last string holding his broken body together. She was scared for herself too, what if she had to be Kallen Stadtfeld for good? What if she would die without making the mark on the world she wanted to make? What if she was seperated from Lelouch and his friends forever?

Kallen snapped herself out of her thoughts,"C.C, I have a truck parked in the building. I'll take Lelouch back to the academy. Maybe you should stay here and watch over the Knights?"

C.C shook her head again,"Right now, I think Lelouch is the one we need to worry about."

All Kallen could do was agree.

**--**

**Part two soon, as in the more reviews I get, the sooner it comes.**


	2. The Anger

**Nothing Left - Ch.2**

**Author's Note: Chapter 2, enjoy. Reviews make me happy.**

**Edited. Barely.**

**----**

_The Room_

Everything was ok again. Nunally never died. In fact, the next day, she rose out of bed on her own two legs and opened her eyes. Lelouch commented that she had the most beautiful face that ever smiled upon the world. Suzaku was there, playing tag with Nunally, she was good enough to catch the athletic Suzaku. Kallen, happy and smiling, was there too. Only she wasn't Kallen Stadtfeld. She was Karen Kozuki.

Tamaki and Ougi were sharing a beer in the other corner of the room, and Toudou and the Four Holy Blades were quietly enjoying their tea, watching everyone with happy amused looks in their eyes. The other senior black knights were alive and well. Inoue, Minami, Yoshida, and Sugiyama were chatting nonsense to each other, talking about how the new Japan had formed. Diethard and Rakshata were fixing up the tapes of Japan's savior, Zero, to be broadcasted to the world. Sayoko, no longer behind Nunally's wheelchair, was getting drunk and flirting with Tamaki of all people! Kaguya was saying that she somehow should've known that the man of her dreams was Lelouch, the golden moment that was erupting all around him would be slightly ruined - he would have to tell the little girl that there was no chance. Cornelia and Euphie were playing around as sister and sister, pulling each other's hair and such, as if they had never joined the military. Schneizel and the other Knights of Round (not counting Suzaku) were having fencing duels in another corner (which didn't really make sense at all because only Schneizel knew how),. Lloyd and Milly were finally talking to each other, and Rivalz didn't seem to mind. In fact, Rivalz was flirting with Cecile instead. Shirley watched the two and laughed when Cecile slapped Rivalz.

There was a large yelp heard in the room, Arthur had just snuck up on Suzaku and bit his leg. Everyone laughed warmheartedly. Even Mao was there, sane and smiling, finally making his peace with C.C, and able to control his Geass. C.C had dropped her bitter tone and attitude, just this once, and was the radiant life of the party. The men would flirt with her, and she would smile and nod them off, and would look at Lelouch and laugh every time this happened. Prince Clovis was in the process of making his greatest masterpiece, a picture of the room where only happy people were allowed, the room that was allowed only to the equal, not the strong or the weak. Just then, Lelouch figured out what this place was. This happy room were everything was perfect forever. It was Lelouch's ideal world. He had made it, and taken Nunally with him. Everything was ok again...everything...was...

----

_Ashford Academy_

Lelouch opened his eyes. With his superior level of intellect, he should've known that no such place would ever exist. Some of those happy smiling people were dead. Among them was someone Lelouch never calculated into his war scheme. Nunally. Nunally. Nunally.

He looked around him. He was back in his room, and it was pitch black outside. He almost smiled when he saw that C.C had tucked Cheese-Kun under his arm, for emotional comfort or some other reason. C.C herself was sitting on a chair, facing the bed, her head tilted and eyes shut. She had fallen asleep waiting for him. He sat up in his bed, his head aching terribly. He felt slightly euphoric, he knew that must have been a sign of insanity. He got out of bed slowly and left the room.

Kallen was sprawled on the floor right next to the couch, which Lelouch discovered only after stepping on her hair. She stirred a moment, but went back to sleep.

Maybe it had never happened, that whole thing with Governer Nunally, he thought to himself. He would check Nunally's room and laugh when he saw her in bed, and Nunally would jump out of bed and say,"Brother...why are you laughing?" and he would reply "Nothing." and hug the confused Nunally tightly...

She was not there.

Instead, Rolo slept there.

All of a sudden, Lelouch's sanity broke, and he let out an insane roar. Somewhere in the depths of hell, Mao broke into a fit of giggles at his former opponent's loss of sanity.

Rolo bolted out of bed immediantly, but not quite fast enough.

"YOU!" Lelouch bellowed. He leapt on to the top of the bed and started beating Rolo's face with his fists. He screamed again and stood on top of the bed, grabbed Rolo by the collar, hoisted him up, and tossed the scared boy into the wall. Rolo slumped on the edge of the wall, trying to collect himself. Before he could even stand up, Lelouch jumped down from the bed and charged relentlessly,

"Fake," he yelled, "You're nothing but a _fake_!"

Rolo could have used his Geass anytime, but either he didn't wish to use it on Lelouch, or he was too shocked. Lelouch already had the countermeasure for it planned out anyway. He took one of the knives he knew Rolo kept in his pocket and thrust it to his skull. Rolo just barely dodged and backed away while Lelouch pulled the knife out of the wall.

"What-" Rolo began, but Lelouch started slicing in a mad frenzy, and in between slices took the other knife Rolo kept in his pocket, leaving Rolo with no defense. All he could do was keep backing away and avoiding the fatal blows. Lelouch was screaming at him the whole time, trying to disorient Rolo by doing so.

Rolo tried to use his Geass, but his eyes flickered them on, then off. He started to scream too, a confused scream. Lelouch had said they were family, so Rolo had decided not to kill him, but here Lelouch was trying to kill _him_. The ultimate assassin of Britannia, for the second time in his life, could not carry out the new mission in the long line of his life's work. He had actually wanted to try and be close to Lelouch, to know family, and he had liked the feeling of having someone there for him ever since Lelouch had saved him from death.

Lelouch thrusted again, and Rolo could not move his body fast enough. The knife grazed sliced cleanly into the side of his arm, making a ruler's length of a cut. Rolo was not used to seeing his own blood, and fell to his knees. Lelouch stood over him, a mad smile painted over his lips. The raven haired youth grabbed Rolo by his hair and lifted his head so the throat was utterly exposed. Without sparing a second, he put his knife to Rolo's throat and savored the whimper of the boy. Before he could do more than that, Kallen burst through the door, saw what was happening and dove for the two boys. Lelouch attempted to cut Rolo's throat as soon as she had come, but Kallen was faster and pulled Rolo's head down. Unfortunately, that put herself in the way of the blow. The knife sliced open her left cheek and she recoiled in pain, giving Rolo the time he needed to move himself away from the knife's range.

Kallen dropped to the ground, covering her face with her hands, screaming. The cut had just gone a few inches below her eye.

Rolo tried to reason with his brother in the most hysteric voice he could form,"No..no more. Please, just stop." He stood in front of Kallen, as if trying to protect her from harm. In truth, he was just trying to stand face-to-face with Lelouch.

Lelouch laughed,"Fool! You could have used your Geass and saved yourself anytime, why didn't you -"

"You said I....was your brother,"he replied slowly, watching the knives.

Lelouch giggled,"For an assassin, you're pretty stupid. It doesn't really matter anymore, so I guess i'll just tell you now...I used you, just like I used Japan! Fool, I ordered that Knightmare to attack you from behind so I could 'save' you. You will never have anyone care about you as family, or as a friend. I hated you from the second I discovered who I was, you're just a fake Nunally. I will see you dead."

Before Lelouch could finish Rolo, Kallen stood up and covered Rolo,"You were always manipulating us. I knew that after I learned who you were. But I thought...that you cared about Japan even just slightly! If your going to kill him, you'll have to kill me too."

Lelouch stared at her, as if seeing her for the first time. He seriously considered killing her just to get to Rolo. Then he asked himself a question that he already thought he knew the answer to.

'Why do I want to kill him?'

It was because he was Nunally's imposter, right? But that didn't seem like reason enough to kill the traumatized child before him. Kallen continued to stare Lelouch down, not trembling at all from the eye contact with someone holding two knives. Lelouch's smile faded the longer he stared at her. C.C watched silently from the doorway. The silence was so tense, only the faint sounds of Rolo's gasps were heard.

After a full minute of this, Lelouch laid down both the knives, and turned his back to Kallen's deathly gaze. Kallen covered her dripping wound and spat blood out onto the floor. She waited a moment, then walked over to Lelouch until she was directly behind him.

She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, but could not bring herself to do it. She stared down on the floor and backed her hand away.

Lelouch started to shake,"I...don't want to hurt you. You...Ougi...the rest, were pawns yes. But... when I thought about killing you, I just couldn't do it."

Kallen brought her hand fully to his shoulder this time,"I'm sorry about Nunally..."

Lelouch balled his fists tightly,"Why couldn't it be a perfect world? I thought that noone else but me could make a perfect world. So I tried making one. I just kept gaining and gaining power and getting closer each step, and I became farther from Nunally because of it. I didn't spend half the time with her as I used to, and I thought I was helping her. I didn't spend those last days with her, Kallen...and when I saw her face for the last time, she was afraid of me. Now I realize that if I had never been Zero, she would still be alive."

He paused for a moment, drowning in the sorrow of his words.

"Kallen, I want you to take over the Black Knights, and C.C, I am unable to fill out your contract."

C.C responded first,"I usually believed a contract was binding."

"I am unable to fulfill the terms, will you sue me in Britannian court?"

C.C didn't find that very funny.

Kallen shook her head, even though Lelouch had his back turned,"It's like you said, noone _can _do it but you."

"I just...don't have the will for it anymore. Wait..!" he turned around, just remembering something.

"Kallen, you're bleeding."

Kallen covered the cheek and mumbled something about it being just a cut.

Lelouch motioned for her to move her hand, and Kallen just mumbled something else unintelligible. Finally, Lelouch gently forced her hand off, Kallen blinked at the delicate contact.

"My god...Kallen, you need to go to the hospital, that 'cut' definetly needs a few stiches, how can you stand it?"

Kallen sighed,"It's _nothing._ Gah, the more you talk about it, the more it hurts."

"Don't be stupid, just go, i'll pay for it."

Lelouch didn't exactly remember how a heated arguement over Kallen's health had started right after Lelouch nearly commited homicide, but in the end, he didn't really care. What he did remember was sharing a laugh about it in the end with her.  
-----

**Definetly another chapter after this.**


	3. The Changes

**Nothing Left - Ch.3**

**Author's Note: I enjoy writing Code Geass, I may just give up on my other stories for good. By the way, this part of the story is much lighter than the other two. I think I should add this story to the comedy section for this scene. I'm deciding to change the category to Romance/Hurt/Comfort. I'm increasing the Lelouch X Kallen ness that I originally intended, and I think Hurt/Comfort is more accurate than Tragedy.**

**P.S: Nina is not in this story, in case your wondering. I just decided not to include her.**

**P.S.S: If you guys really like the story, i'll expand it and make it longer. Just remember, reviews = updates!**

**P.S.S.S: I warn you, my Inuyasha story fans consider me famous for updating fast when I start a story, and infamous for not updating due to lack of reviews. I'm talking months people.**

**Discliamer: I do not own Code Geass or any of its characters. I also don't own Pizza Hut or any of its workers.**

**----------**

_Ashford Academy_

It was 2:00 at night, and everyone was up, unable to sleep. C.C ordered a few pizza's from a 24/7 Pizza Hut branch. On top of the greasy after-midnight snack, everyone drank some poorly flavored tea. Lelouch usually didn't bother with getting a stock of exotic tea bags like other Britannians. Kallen had grudgingly accepted an ice pack for the wound, which was now pretty swollen and aching. The knife had almost sliced it so if one would look through the hole, her teeth could be seen. Rolo seemed to have gotten a few minor cuts, and perhaps a broken or fractured rib when Lelouch had thrown him against the wall. Rolo refused to go to the hospital, saying that the surveillance cams were everywhere outside of Lelouch's room, and he would be interrogated about how it could have happened in the middle of night.

As usual, Lelouch got his way in the end. But this time, it was to help someone other than himself. Rolo would go to the Britannian hospital and have his wounds checked out in the morning, and say that he had fallen hard on the hard tiled floor of the bathroom (since everywhere else was covered in carpet) if questioned by the surveillance team. Kallen would cover her cheek wound with a few simple bandages, just to pretend that it had been a small wound, and go to the Britannian hospital. She would do it when the student council came around to pick them up, so she would blend in and not be deemed suspicious by the cameras. The cover for ordering the pizzas was said to be that neither he nor Lelouch could sleep and they decided to treat themselves.

Everyone mindlessly stared at the T.V. while sitting on the dull Britannian couches. When Zero was not on the news, there was some petty political matter or scandal being discussed. There wasn't anything else other than news to watch anyway, especially in the middle of the night. Besides, T.V was usually a Britannian puchased item, used for nothing more than to decorate a lonely part of the wall. But the T.V made it so that the room wasn't completely silent, made it so noone else had to talk.

"Kallen...Rolo,"started Lelouch in an undertone. It was like he gave C.C the cue to switch off the T.V, putting complete attention on the raven-haired boy.

"Finally, I was starting to wonder when you were going to apologize. Go on, share your feelings with us, Lelouch. Be a big sensitive man,"said Kallen slyly.

He could've strangled her. Here he was, readying a big speech of apology, and then she went and embarrassed him for saying it before he even said it. He had to finish up quickly and lightly or Kallen would mock him.

"Well, you know, I just wanted to say...oh god...what's that word...umm...geez, this is so embarrassing, how could I forget it...no no..wait it was sorry...yeah that was it!"

Kallen didn't back off,"Sorry for what? Be specific LULU!,"She was sure to use Shirley's 'pet' name for him.

'What the hell are they doing...?' wondered Rolo.

'They actually sound like friends, and both of them were nearly killing each other earlier,' thought C.C, that is, after she thought about ordering more pizza on Lelouch's credit card.

"Fine, i'll be the big sensitive man and tell you how I feel. I'm sorry...that you snore so loud when you sleep."

Kallen growled. Lelouch Lamperouge had just won the game of wit.

Lelouch turned to Rolo,"But seriously, i'm sorry for what I did Rolo. You didn't use your Geas on me...even after I did what I did. I don't want anyone to be a pawn anymore...not when that pawn cares about me. Will you forgive me?"

Rolo paused for a moment,"Can...I call you Nii-san?"

Lelouch paused this time," I...Rolo, that's what...she used to call me."

The younger amethyst-eyed boy nodded and put his head down.

Lelouch smiled,"How bout you just call me your friend?"

Rolo looked up and smiled back.

Kallen yawned,"Very touching Lulu, so where's your apology to me?"

"I just did it a few minutes ago."

She did something between a scoff and a snort,"If that's how you apologize to women, I am seriously scared for your social life Lulu."

"Stop calling me that, if you don't mind."

"Why? Cause that's Shirley's name for you? I just figured that it's a lot easier than saying Lelouch."

C.C came close to getting an annoyed look on her usually passive face, took a pizza box, and exited into Lelouch's bedroom. 'I hope those two start hating each other again by the end of the night. The cold silence was much more bearable than this.'

"Ehh? Why'd she leave?", asked Kallen.

Lelouch shrugged,"She must be tired."

Rolo started to say something, but was cut off by Kallen, "Yeah...hey...Lelouch. So, is this your real personality?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Kallen stretched her arms,"Well usually your quiet, you don't speak until someone speaks to you, you run out and act like a criminal -which you are, you always show attitude when you talk to someone. There really isn't anything much favorable about your school self. Your lucky you're handsome and popular with the girls at school, cause if you weren't, people wouldn't-"

"Hang on, did you just say that you think i'm handsome? I'm flattered."

Rolo tried to interject again. Kallen beat him to it.

"I didn't..say...I don't think your...that is, I mean,"she sputtered for a few moments after that.

"Your blushing on the other cheek,"pointed out an amused Lelouch.

Kallen shifted uncomfortably,"It's the ice, it's making both my cheeks turn red, stupid!"

"So the ice magically skipped over your face and made you blush in that particular spot?"

"Shut up!"

Rolo gave up on trying to talk between the two. 'I hope they don't get too friendly, or else this will go on forever', he thought. Rolo stood up and walked out of the room, joining C.C.

"Ehh? Why'd he leave?,"Kallen asked.

Lelouch shrugged,"He must be tired."

They smiled at each other, the playful banter was quite fun. Lelouch almost thanked Kallen for taking his mind off Nunally. But then saying this after the most recent chat topic might prove to be...monotonous.

Kallen got up to get the pizza box on Lelouch's side of the table. When she sat down again, she sat on the same couch as Lelouch.

-----

_**4:00 P.M**_

_Order of the Black Knights H.Q._

Kallen fingered the hospital-applied bandage that covered her stitches. There were about a dozen for the rather long cut. She had been mobbed by over 300 terrorists that day, demanding to know why Zero hadn't shown up. Rakshata had some terrible news for them already that day. It seemed the Guren and only a handful of Knightmares had made it back to base. Two Knightmare carriers, holding six Burai each, had been destroyed when helicopter reinforcements had arrived. The pilots did not make it out. A lot of the other Knightmares had been destroyed in combat.

Some members talked of leaving. They had two walking-talking miracles with them, Zero and Toudou, and they lacked the resources to utilize them. The Kyoto Group was having trouble as well, one of the illegal factorys that copied the Britiannian version of the Burai and churned out Knightmares for resistance groups had been discovered and been "sterilized". Knightmare production was irreprably down.

Tamaki kept pushing her at every turn for information,"Come on! You were with the freaking guy, you know where he is. You also know who he is don't you?"

She ignored him, like any person who knew him got skilled in doing.

----

_**Three Days Later. 9:00 A.M**_

_Ashford Academy School Building_

Kallen only saw Lelouch in class, and she couldn't talk with him the same way as she had in private. She had to stay a shallow Britannian girl in school, and the cameras that lined the halls recorded everyone who talked to Lelouch. She almost felt ignored when Lelouch would walk past her indifferently. It was so infuriating to know she was being watched each and every moment, and couldn't even talk to her terrorist leader when he was right there in front of her. He had even dropped out of student council, and even more interestingly, he attended all his classes and resurfaced as the top student in only a short period of time. Viletta Nu looked to be extremely suspicious of the changed behavior, and extremely bored - after all, those morning chases with the crafty Lelouch trying to skip class were always fun. Kallen's only other option was to go to his room and talk to him there, but what could she say to him? Please come back and risk your life for us Elevens?

None of his friends mentioned the news of Nunally's death until he was out of earshot. Actually, until both Suzaku and Lelouch were out of earshot.

"The poor guy talks to people even less now...,"said Milly.

'It's strange though, we see a lot more of him now," added Rivalz.

Shirley usually only listened when Milly and Rivalz discussed it. First his mom, then his sister. Shirley wanted to try comforting him, but she too like Kallen, could not see much of him anymore.

The Black Knights were in a state of panic and disorder. Kallen was becoming the object of much interrogation, and a few of the new Elevens left the group. Most members weren't satisfied with Kallen's "He's alive and well" talk and threatened to leave the cause, though only few of them meant it. The only good news was that The Kyoto Group had made a shipment of 12 Burai, but even that was below the usual number. Diethard started to film non-Zero moments and grimly described the feeling of hopelessness that came after losing their leader for only half a week.

Everything had changed so fast.

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**That's all for now, if you want me to continue, i'd like some reviews, you know, I could just stop the story at Everything had changed so fast...**


	4. The Pain

**Nothing Left - Ch.4**

**Author's Note: This may just become a full length story. The more review's the more likely (repetitive, no?)**

**P.S: Hi.**

**P.S.S: Umm. What do I put here?**

**-----**

_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's room 3:30 P.M_

As soon as Kallen had walked in, Lelouch fumbled with something in his hands and walked into the kitchen, which technically was in the same room, but behind a section of wall. Rolo and C.C seemed not to be in the area, leaving the room completely to the two. Rolo, most likely, was having a debrief with Viletta about the week's details. C.C...well, who would ever know where that one went? Not even Sayoko had come of late, had Lelouch fired her?

"We're worried about you," she said, not wasting any time.

"So am I,"he said in between filling up cups of water slowly.

"What do you plan on doing?"

"I don't know,"came the next three word answer.

Kallen slumped onto the couch and buried her head in her hands. Lelouch walked in with two glasses of plain water, handling them carefully, due to the fact that he was not looking in front of him. He sat down on the adjacent couch and did his best to avoid eye contact. He put one of the glasses on the table in front of Kallen. She picked it up, spat in it, and tipped it over on the carpet. Lelouch frowned to himself, but didn't say a word.

"Lelouch...,"she paused before moving on,"What's...happening to you?"

The ex-prince sighed,"I don't feel right. I just don't know what's good and evil anymore. Being Zero ended to be the death of Nunally, being Lelouch would have assured her a lonely life in a cruel world. With her gone, I don't have any reason to be either."

Kallen just dug her face into her palms again,"Isn't this the time to be closer to friends than farther apart, Lelouch? You have so many people who love and care about you, and whether they were pawns in your game of chess in the past doesn't matter now...Lulu."

"I just can't face the Black Knights now. I doubt that i'll ever be able to again, I can't see a reason for me to continue on. I've been thinking a lot these few days. I only see one plan that could work for me now."

Kallen lifted her head,"Give up?"

He shook his head,"I never saw that as an option, even now. My way didn't work, but Suzaku's did. He's already become the Knight of Seven in the span of one year."

"You plan on becoming a Knightmare pilot?"

"No, mine's a touch more elaborate. I plan on passing top of my class, getting into the military, rise up in ranks, which shouldn't be too difficult, considering I led the greatest terrorist group to oppose Britannia. The army will have no good reason to turn me down, because they couldn't exactly turn down an application by telling me I was a terrorist leader and forgot about it. And somewhere along the line I can add in that i'm the former prince of Britannia, and boost popularity by way of using the Geas at the right times, both on the "people" and on other higher-ups. I should be able to do it in an inconspicuous manner. I'm afraid that it will still involve using pawns, but..."

"I get it, so your going to fight the rebels to gain popularity?"

Lelouch looked her in the eyes with a sad, but strong gaze,"If it comes to that...then I must."

This time, Kallen looked away,"You want to become the enemy to the very group you made?"

"Yes. It's the only way. I won't ask you to stop fighting Britannia, but I don't ever want to become your enemy. Kallen, i'm sorry...This is the end of Zero."

Kallen stood up and walked to the door, taking care to not meet his sad eyes.

"Kallen..."

She squeezed the door handle,"Lelouch. I saw the Refrian needle."

Lelouch tensed and spoke slowly,"Refrian brings back the past. That's the place I want to die, not here, in the miserable present."

She let go of the handle and ran past him into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was the strange needle, next to the sink. It was still full, but Kallen saw another needle lying next to it, drained completely. She started to shake, Lelouch could not tell whether from anger or pity.

"Refrain also makes a quick death from heart failure. The hallucinogen's inside work quickly and give the user a high that almost makes addiction unavoidable after the first time. I've also been thinking about if there was a point in my continued existence. That...is why i'm sorry,"Lelouch stopped there, and looked at the trembling girl.

Kallen turned around. Tears glistened in her eyes.

"Oh...Lelouch!,"she ran to him and embraced him tightly.

Lelouch's face didn't give away his surprise, he tried to push himself away, but Kallen's stronger arms stopped him.

"I was such a fool. I actually thought that you were fine after that night. I couldn't see behind that sad smile of yours, I...should have...comforted you."

Kallen hadn't shed a tear in many years. Now she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Don't do this to yourself,"she whispered in his ear.

Lelouch wanted to push himself away from Kallen and continue his slow death. Then he looked at her. She was weeping for him, weeping because she didn't want him to die. Kallen buried her head into his shoulder and tightened her embrace.

He started crying too.

"I..I...Kallen...i'm...."

She looked up at him. Her beautiful face was covered with tears, and a not a single one had been shed for herself. Lelouch looked at the stitches covering her face, the stitches would be off in a matter of days, but the scar would always be there. Lelouch had scarred her, from the outside and the inside, and she still cared about him. Still.

That...was comfort enough.

----------

_5:00 P.M._

Rolo dragged himself back to Lelouch's room. Viletta had been relentless in her interrogation, it had taken two hours for her to believe that he "knew nothing about it." It being the change in Lelouch's behavior. He was again questioned about C.C, and if she had been seen. Somehow, C.C could walk right into the corridor of cameras and not one would notice her, he had seen her openly place herself in public and never be compromised. She had the gift of being a shadow.

When he entered the room, he sensed something odd about the way Kallen and Lelouch sat next to each other, watching the T.V.

"What happened?,"asked Lelouch.

"Viletta happened. She enjoys disciplining minors."

Kallen smiled,"Must be a side effect of being a gym teacher."

Rolo looked around,"Where is C.C?"

Lelouch sighed,"Off somewhere in public, hopefully not making a nuisance of herself. She called, she's fine."

Rolo sat down. Lelouch seemed suspiciously happy right now, compared to in the morning when he had smiled fakely and told Rolo to go on to school.

"So, what happened here?", asked Rolo, not fooled by the two's indifferent attitudes.

Lelouch yawned,"Well, i'm pretty sure Kallen will back me up when I say nothing happened."

"Yes, Kallen will,"she chimed.

Rolo didn't think that the two were being truthful, mainly because when Rolo had entered the room, he could have sworn that Lelouch's and Kallen's hands had been touching.

---------

**Yeah I know, real short, i'm sorry if I can't help incorporating comedy in my work. Hope you liked it. A warning some of you might not have taken seriously before, I am INFAMOUS for writing chapters lightning fast when I start, but slowing down when i'm into it. I would have uploaded this even faster, but the site glitch stopped that.**


	5. The Decision

**Nothing Left - Ch.5**

**Author's Note: Yeah, I realize Chapter 4 was poorly done. I'm still working on the romance thing, sorry. By the way, to those who were wondering, they didn't make out last chapter. They just sat on the couch enjoying each other's company...probably.**

**P.S: Editing will be delayed for a bit.**

**P.S.S: So, if P.S is post script, basically what i'm doing here is some sort of post script script script script, correct?**

**P.S.S.S: A little thank you to rickW22 for C2ing this story. ****Thank you**

**------**

_The Sword Of Akasha Shrine_

Charles Di Britannia and V.V stood side by side like they always had in their place above the clouds. The Shrine was known to none but the Emperor, V.V, and the Knights of Round. Even Lelouch Lamperouge, who had thought he knew everything of the weapons the Emperor had at his disposal knew nothing of the place.

V.V spoke after a half-hour of silence,"The boy has broken your Geas for a while now. I'm sure your surveillance teams knew nothing, but I am sure that you knew this would happen. Why are you letting him challenge you?"

The Emperor stayed silent and watched the clouds for a moment more until he replied.

"To destroy someone as instrumental as Lelouch in capturing C.C would be counterproductive."

V.V did a one syllable laugh,"It's more than that. Don't lie to me."

Charles Britannia gazed at the clouds again, as was his habit, before answering,"Someone as weak as him should have a fair chance, don't you agree?"

"Ahh. If only you were as old as me, you could see the childishness behind your little game."

"Well, older brother, if you were as young as me, you would want to have a thrill."

V.V chuckled again,"Young. Ha! I remember that all of your children would refer to you as 'the cranky old bastard'. Fatherhood must have been as diplomatic as a peace negotiation."

"It _was _exactly like a peace negotiation. I gave them big, dangerous toys to keep them happy, and it worked."

-------

_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's room. 11:00 A.M._

The Refrain he had taken was tormenting him. His knees wouldn't stop shaking and twice he had found himself peering inside the kitchen drawers where he had kept the injectors. Refrain was one of the most highly addictive drugs to exist, so it was a good thing Lelouch had his own will and had only taken a few injections.

He had shown up for attendance that day and ran out, taking Ms. Nu by surprise. He had managed to get away with a headstart this time due to that. C.C was in the other room, reading some article or another on the Internet. Rolo and Kallen were in their own classes, silently envying a way to escape as Lelouch's, the mid-semester tests were coming up. Despite both of their intelligent appearences, they barely got by in school. Double lives were a nightmare for all of them.

He knew Kallen would be coming by later, to discuss what were Lelouch's plans for the future. Lelouch did feel guilty he had not met with the Black Knights or the Student Council to reconcile the relationships, but he still didn't feel up to it. The Refrain was battle enough right now. And Nunally kept worming into his thoughts. She was gone...he would never hear the gentle voice again. But he had promised Kallen he would continue his life, so he would.

'Kallen...'

What did he think of her really? He felt the regular attraction a guy _would_ around a beautiful girl like her. Sometimes he would even fantasize about her, but he knew it probably wouldn't happen. He could feel the same attraction around C.C, or Shirley, or even Milly, which made him certain that he and Kallen were just close friends.

Lelouch wasn't the type to kid with himself about relationships of friendship or love to other people. If he said someone was a friend in his mind, he meant it, if he said someone was his lover in his mind, that would be true. Kallen just happened to be a friend. Unless, of course, she wanted to be more. Lelouch wasn't the type to be bold with women. Instead, he had decided years ago to let them make the first move.

That was why he didn't have a girlfriend for the last seven years.

----------

_Order of the Black Knights H.Q, 1:00 P.M_

"Where the HELL is he?", moaned Tamaki.

Ogi sighed,"If Kallen says he's alive, then he'll come back, you mark my words."

Shogo Asahina (one of the Four Holy Blades) walked over to the two,"He'll be back all right. But I don't know what he can possibly due to make our resources go up."

The other member of the Holy Blades that had survived, Nagisa Chiba, also passing by, overheard Shogo,"He abandoned us again. Senba and a lot of Burai are gone because of him!"

"Nagisa, calm down! Senba's death is to be blamed on the Knights of Round, not Zero,"said Ougi.

"What the hell was he doing all that time with that fucking girl? Why couldn't he just take her and run? It's not like she would have resisted!,"continued Nagisa, ignoring Ogi.

Shogo fingered the scar running down the right side of his face,"I will admit that's something to mark him for. Why indeed?"

Toudou had noticed his allies talking in the corner and walked over as well,"He has already made his mark on the world, as have we. If he does not return, we will go back to fighting without him. We might not last long without a leadership like his though, I admit it."

Nagisa gaped at him,"Toudou...that's the first time i've heard you doubt your own leadership. You were the leader before Zero, if you remember..."

"And indeed I was. I thought I was doing an excellent job at it too, but that was before I pledged myself to Zero. I accomplished so much more."

Ogi sighed again,"Morale is at an all time low here. Whether or not Zero chooses to come back, we're already hurt."

---------------

_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's Room, 3:20 P.M._

"So?"

"I haven't decided,"replied Lelouch.

Kallen sighed,"I can't blame you though. Its a hard decision."

"Thanks for understanding Kallen, but I do have to make my decision soon, don't I?"

"Yes."

Lelouch looked longingly at the ceiling,"I just wish...that the world was perfect."

Rolo walked in just then, greeted Lelouch and Kallen, and walked into the hall.

Lelouch watched him go,"What they did to Rolo was horrible, making him kill at as young as six years old. He deserves a perfect world as much as Nunally. And you, who have suffered so much."

Kallen smiled in a sad way,"And you, and Toudou, and Ogi, and basically everyone deserves a better world."

"If only there was a way to save everyone in the Black Knights from death, and still be able to strive towards the new world."

"Force seems to be the only way to do anything and get noticed, Lelouch. Only the ones with power can have the influence in the world. "

And then it happened. There was that light that suddenly went on in his head and then he grew that slow smile he got when he formulated a plan he thought had little or no chance of failure.

"Kallen, if your up to it, I think I have a plan."

"A plan?"

'Wow, he sure bounced back fast,' she thought,"what plan?"

Lelouch kept smiling,"I just figured out how to get in power."

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**My writing either gets worse as I go on, or extremely better, You decide. Now, I don't wan't to pressure ya'llz, but it really be great if you stopped reading this and REVIEWED. Thank you.**

**Sorry it was so short!**


	6. The Plan

**Nothing Left - Ch.6**

**Author's Note: Sorry James, this story ain't too big on fluff, though I plan to have some. (Sorry, quick question, fluff means cute moments right? Not lemon or anything eh? Cause if your looking for lemon here, you sure as hell won't find it)**

**P.S: Kyoshiro is Toudou's first name.**

----------

_The Avalon, one week later._

"Oii, Suzaku! We were wondering if you were going to show up,"said Lloyd in his same jovial voice.

Cecile pulled the doctor away from Suzaku, throwing him to the ground,"Suzaku, i'm sorry about Nunally..."

Before Suzaku could respond, Lloyd moaned,"OwwwWW! Cecile! What was that for?"

His assistant sighed,"Because your an insensitive maniac, anyway Suzaku...,"she ignored the rest of Lloyd's whining,"How is her brother taking it? It must be hard for him."

Suzaku looked at his feet. Lelouch had not spoken to him once for the two weeks since Nunally's death. Even though Lelouch wasn't Zero this time (Suzaku was sure of that), he couldn't face his former friend. He himself was still reeling from Nunally's death. Seven years ago, he had become brother onto Lelouch and sister onto Nunally, if only he hadn't dropped her...

No. He hadn't dropped her, it was Zero had caused him to do it. That was why he was back now to the _Avalon_, to get revenge.

"Anywayyy...I think you'll like our news, it has been announced by the Knight of Three himself that the Lancelot has been approved for mass production!,"said Lloyd in a voice that suggested his life was complete.

"Really? An army of Lancelot's?,"breathed Suzaku. He imagined what it would be like if all the Sutherlands in the Britannian army were replaced with the Lancelot...

Cecile cut into Suzaku's mental image,"Of course, it'll take maybe months until the model is finalized. This Knightmare cost billions of Britannian dollars to construct, and about an eighth of that bill went into getting just the special Sakuradite reactor stabilized and prepped. When the doctor says mass production, he means maybe 10 models in the next few years or so."

Suzaku sighed, of course there was a catch,"I didn't know the reactor was that costly."

Lloyd winked,"It would have been quadruple that if I hadn't come up with the ingenious new system myself. You see..."the doctor was getting ready for one of his science lectures,"the Sakuradite reactor prototypes were far too unstable because of the incredible amount of energy packed into them. If there was a scratch on a model that was deep enough, there would be a volatile reaction with the air and an explosion would occur. However, if we cut down the Sakuradite input, the Lancelot was no more agile than a Burai. But then I came up with a simple little trick, I covered the Sakuradite reactor with a special glass so thoroughly that no air could get in or out. That couldn't have been done before because the Lancelot could not communicate with the reactor, therefore making it a useless heap of scrap. I added a few battery generator's, that were actually powered by the fuel cell itself, to communicate electronically with the reactor. It worked like a charm."

Suzaku looked over at the Lancelot,"So this will actually be a Knight-class model?"

Lloyd nodded,"That's right. The Britannian empire decided to give you the privelage of having this Knightmare as your custom Knight's of Round machine. There will only be a few models after this to cover the hides of official's, but technically, this is all yours, you are no longer a test pilot."

Suzaku continued to stare into the eyes of Lancelot. Things had just gotten a whole lot worse for Zero.

----

_Approaching Order of the Black Knights H.Q, 9:00 A.M._

"So what are you going to say to them?"

"Something like, sorry for my absence, Japan will soon be ours, et cetera..."

Kallen smiled,"I think this plan just might work. And the beauty of it is that not one person dies if it goes off as you said. The problem is we need more people in on this."

Lelouch drummed his gloved hand against the truck's door,"I can trust Toudou to keep his mouth shut, and probably Shogo as well. But i'm going to have to explain my full plan to them, and that I intend to crush the Black Knight's spirit...as phase 1."

"What about Nagisa? She's one of the Holy Blades."

"Can't trust her to keep that big mouth shut."

"So just the three of us are going to guard you? Me, Toudou, and Shogo?"

Lelouch sighed,"I just can't think of anyone more capable in the Black Knights. Of course, i'm going to have to tell Rakshata too so she can get the Gefjun fields in place. So I guess that's four."

"What about Rolo?"

"Rolo has to pretend he doesn't know anything about this. So, he'll report that i'm in my room when this whole thing is happening."

"It would be nice to have the Vincent with us though."

"This whole thing falls apart if i'm discovered."

"Hey...Lelouch?,"her voice became low.

"Hmm?"

"Are you...ok now?"

Lelouch smiled warmly,"I'm fine. Thanks a lot for helping me through it Kallen."

"What's your motivation for moving on now?"

"Nunally, mother, Shirley, Rivalz, Milly, Toudou, Ogi, Rolo, and everyone else."

"And...me?"

Lelouch looked over to her, she was looking back.

"And you,"he said softly.

----------

_Order of the Black Knights H.Q. 12:00 A.M_

As soon as Zero entered the building, everyone dropped what they were doing and swarmed over him.

There were excited chatters and monotonous cries of "finally!" in the crowd. But not as loud as Tamaki's.

"Where the FUCK have you been?!", yelled Tamaki.

Awkward silence.

All the 200 members in the main hall stared at him. Tamaki blushed and looked at his feet.

"The _rest_ of us are just glad your back,"said Ogi, staring down Tamaki.

"Everyone as you were. I urgently need to discuss something with Kyoshiro, Shogo, and Rakshata. Follow me into my quarters."

All the members immediantly departed, and morale suddenly skyrocketed with their leader's return.

---------

_Order of the Black Knight's H.Q. Zero's Quarters. 1:00 P.M._

"That. Is the most ridiculious thing i've ever heard,"said Shogo when Zero finished.

"_Destroy_ the Black Knights? And that will accomplish what? The follow through with your plan is impossible as well, how would you rise up in the ranks of Britannia? It would take dozens of dozens of years to get to the position where you can help anyone recover Japan,"said Toudou.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve, please believe me."

"Hey, wait a sec, what if this is just some fake Zero that wants to destroy us from the inside...,"ventured Shogo.

Kallen immediantly reprimanded him,"He came in with ME remember? Also, if the Britannians knew where we were, they wouldn't bother sending an imposter in. They would just fire a few missiles and be done with it."

Shogo cleared his throat,"Ahem. So there must be one explanation for it. He went crazy. Toudou's not in on this, are you?"

Toudou sat in his meditative position for two full minutes, finally, he said,"I don't know what he's planning, or how he will accomplish his goal, but this seems to be the most peaceful and productive solution that has ever been suggested. Also, what he will do is not known infamously as terrorism, but, in a way, heroism. That will make him all the more popular along Britannians. I pledged myself to your cause, and I will continue my pledge Zero, you have my full services."

Rakshata put down her pipe,"I as well pledge myself to Zero. He has never, until recently, been wrong about anything."

Shogo, as to not be left behind, agreed as well.

"Now then, Rakshata, I want that special Gefjun disturber you were telling me about tested and duplicated a couple times. The one that only affects Knightmares not registered into it's system. Toudou, Shogo, I want you to tell all the spare engineers to reconstruct and repair your Knightmares. Dismissed."

Toudou and Rakshata rose and left the room immediantly. Shogo remained seated.

"Do you really have the power to make this happen? Should I trust you?"

Kallen looked him full in the eye, "What do _you _think?"

-----------

_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's room. The Next Day. 3:00 P.M._

"But if I could just pilot a Burai...,"Rolo protested.

Lelouch shook his head,"I doubt you could make a phone call to Viletta while fighting for your life."

C.C cut in,"Why can't I go? I won't die if my Knightmare blows up."

Kallen answered for Lelouch,"Because you'll get caught, that's why."

"I still think it's risky."

"Come up with something that doesn't sound as threatening as terrorism and i'll reconsider it. Otherwise..."

"Lelouch,"Kallen's voice became worried,"what if Suzaku comes?"

Far away, Suzaku asked himself, what if this Zero _was _Lelouch?

Both of them answered:

"Then i'll be ready for him."

------

**Sorry for shortness.** **What'd you think? No, wait, don't tell me here, go review!**


	7. The Light

**Nothing Left - Ch.7**

**Author's Note: Sorry if i'm wrong about anything in the depository thing. I didn't brush up on my supply depository sciences before this chapter, please forigve me. Reviews make a the fic.**

**P.S: I'm still working on my romance, but battle is something I do know. Enjoy.**

**-------------**

_Britannian Supply Depository, 5:00 A.M. A week and a half later_

Simon Cutting, head of Britannia's Supply Depository (BSR) # 12, in charge of food and water shipments, yawned and sipped at his extra strong coffee. Another Monday. Another 18 hour workday. And -he glanced at his schedule sheet- another official coming to visit him about how some shipment or another wasn't checked properly and spoiled.

"Ughhh...,"he tapped his com link,"Send the bastard in. Don't tell him I used the word bastard."

"Yes sir," if Simon were fully awake, he might have noticed the hypnotized tone of his secretary.

There was a knock on his door a few seconds later.

"Come in already!"

The door opened and revealed a boy, no more than 18.

"What the hell is this? The schedule said, official meeting. Who the hell are you?"

The boy's eye glowed and the red insignia of a bird appeared. Simon's mind grew numb.

"You will announce to the entire depository of a worker's holiday today. You will not report that you have shut down the depository to anyone after you have given that order until 5:10. Tell them that Zero demanded you to leave, do not answer any of their questions. Also, you will forget that you ever spoke to me."

"Yes, sir!,"he reached for the P.A system,"Attention all workers! You all have today off! Shut down the depository and go home!"

Cheers could be heard all over the building, and everyone started to reschedule their days.

Simon's eyes still glowed red,"Now I must go home and take the day off! You too! Leave!"

"Oh, of course sir, i'll be out in a moment,"said Lelouch with a smile. Simon nearly tripped as he hurried out. Lelouch got out his phone and texted Kallen. 'Phase 1. Commencing.'

------

_Outside BSR #12, 5:20 A.M._

The Burai and the Sutherlands clashed in a battle of guns on the open field surrounding the supply base. The Britannian army had responded in record time, upon hearing Simon Cutting report Zero's name. Tristan, Mordred, and Lancelot were expected to arrive in an hour. The Black Knights had been given the idea that the operation was to obtain an experimental Knightmare that was hidden inside the base. The true purpose was to lose as many Burai as possible. Lelouch hoped the losses would be as minimal as possible, and that everyone would remember to eject.

"All units! Do not enter the base! Toudou, Kallen, and Shogo will accompany me inside and I will take our prize!"Lelouch clicked off the open channel and switched to a private 4 way channel.

"Ok, we're going inside the building, and we're not coming out until those Burai are down. Make sure you are not seen."

The foursome had been hiding out behind the Depository, unknown to the Black Knights and the Britannians. There was a cliff that stretched the height of a skyscraper behind them, so no Sutherlands could be hiding there.

Toudou used his repaired Gekka Knightmare's Katen Yaibatou (Revolving Blade sword) to slice a Knightmare sized hole in the building, and they entered inside. As expected, all personnel had cleared out in a matter of minutes upon hearing of the holiday, but as far as anyone in the Black Knights knew, there was a slaughter going on inside.

Kallen's voice crackled on Lelouch's comm,"So, you expect all the pilots to eject?"

"Correct,"he answered,"that way, all the Burai will be gone, and the lives won't. When the spirit of the Black Knights are crushed, either they will become Honorary Britannians, or continue being terrorists. Either way is fine to my ultimate goal."

Shogo tapped into the conversation,"Creating Britannians seems counterproductive, does it not?"

"It's simple. When Zero gets his way, he'll invite the Honorary Britannians to become Japanese. They'll happily accept,"said Toudou.

"Sounds like a massacre out there,"said Kallen after a few moments of listening to gunfire.

"Hopefully, a bloodless one,"Lelouch replied.

The Knightmares remained as still as possible inside the cramped depository. Several times someone from the Black Knights would try to invite Lelouch to communicate in the private channel being used by all Knights, but he ignored each of them.

-----

_Britannian Supply Depository, 6:00 A.M_

"Rakshata reports three fatalities on our side, and estimated one fatality on the Britannian side,"reported Toudou,"two dozen and a half Burai have been lost, and about the same amount of Sutherlands are down as well."

Lelouch sighed,"I expected far worse casualties, but it's still depressing."

"Well! We've destroyed our very cause and life! Let's celebrate later for this monumental leap,"said an angry Shogo.

Kallen chided him,"And where was terrorism going?"

"Excuse me you two,"said Lelouch before Shogo could comment,"May we continue later? I still have that speech to the Black Knights on our failure and how we should all give up to be prepped."

Rakshata connected into the channel,"Two high-sakuradite levels approaching fast. Energy signatures match Tristan and Mordred."

"Damn, I was hoping I could avoid this,"lamented Lelouch.

Rakshata laughed,"It was a good thing you thought ahead to those Gefjun disturbers then. The field's have been activated. The Burai, Gekka's, and the Guren's energy signatures are registered into the system. Anything foreign will be captured. As an added safety precaution, the Gekka's have two Gefjun Nets each in them, and the Guren has been outfitted with three. Good luck."

Lelouch tensed on his controls,"Ok, this is the most delicate stage. Remember that Lancelot could show at any time, so keep a Net with you in case. Also keep in mind that the Kaiten Yaibotou cannot harm the Mordred, so Kallen will have to take on that Knightmare if need be. The Slash Harken epuipped on the Tristan is formidable, but a speedy Knightmare like the Gekka can take it. Everyone proceed outside, if they're both trapped, we get away. If one is not, then we must stay and disable it to make a clean escape."

Shogo went first, slicing holes in the building where there was no support beams. He carved his way to the outside, and he left the building first.

"It's all - ARGHhh!"

The side of Shogo's Knightmare got crushed as a jarring blow from the Tristan impacted it. The Gekka went flying all the way into the forest area, and the head shaped a path of broken trees until it came to halt.

"Shogo!", called Lelouch.

The Gekka rose, dented and broken,"It's fine, I still have operational control on the weapon options."

The Tristan rocketed over to where Shogo's battered Gekka was standing. Immediantly a duel of swords ensued.

"I'm going to go help him!,"yelled Toudou.

"NO! Keep an eye out for the Mordred, i'm more worried about that Knightmare. It has four Hadron cannons, and Gawain only had two,"said Lelouch.

The trio of Knightmares dashed out of the building, and sure enough, there was Mordred, waiting for them. The voice of Anya Earlstreim was amplified into the air.

"Surrender, or be subdued. I will not ask again," she said, all the while preparing the Hadron Cannons, knowing they would do no such thing.

"Kallen...!,"called Lelouch.

"Ready."

"Ok Kallen, cast the net around Mordred, and Toudou, you can back up Shogo now.

Twin calls of "Right!" were heard on the comm channel.

The Guren and the Gekka simultaneously blasted off in their ordered directions. Anya flipped the switch that controlled all four Hadron Cannons and fired.

Both Kallen and Lelouch got out of the way of the blast, leaving the depository to erupt in a brilliant flash of red energy. The cannons would take two seconds to recharge, and that was all the time Kallen needed.

The Guren Type Two initiated its float system and became an airborne jet in one second. In the next, Kallen had accelerated to close range and launched the Gefjun Net. The Net impacted the Mordred before Anya could do anything about it.

"Defeat,"admitted Anya boredly,"What would you do now, I wonder?"

"Lelouch, if we destroy her, it would be easier to-"

"No, go back up Toudou and Shogo. The Tristan is piloted by the Knight of Three after all."

But there was no need.

Shogo used his other sword, Seidoutou (Brake Sword) to surprise Gino Weinberg, pushing him back practically into Toudou's net range. It was just a matter of pressing the button and subduing Tristan.

"That was quick,"came the amplified voice of Gino,"I suppose you'll be wanting our Knightmares?"

"Actually, we were just leaving,"commented Lelouch, who couldn't help but feel slightly elated. Besides the Gefjun fields being sidestepped by the two clever Knights, it had gone perfectly.

Suddenly, Shogo's Gekka erupted in an inferno of flame, the pilot barely managing to eject as he saw the incoming scatter-shots on sonar. Toudou saw the target hiding in the trees and gasped,"The white-head. Lancelot."

The White Knight jumped out of the trees, it's VARIS cannon ready and smoking.

All three tensed on their controls. Rakshata signaled Lelouch.

"Get out of there, the Gefjun fields have been destroyed by the other Knights, and that THING can outrun my nets,"she broke contact without even waiting for reply.

The Lancelot streaked forward, a graceful figure in the war-torn battlefield. It singled out Toudou first.

Toudou was ready for him. His Gekka fired a net at the approaching target. The Lancelot merely dodged, but slowed it's pace enough to Toudou could sidestep it's first assault. The Lancelot braked to a half and faced the Gekka. The two circled each other cautiously for a moment, knowing that master and student would fight, and both knew that the student had the unfair advantage. The Lancelot produced one of the MVS swords in its arsenal in the hand that wasn't holding the gigantic VARIS cannon.

Toudou took out both the Vibrating and Brake sword and thrust forward. The Lancelot dodged beautifully and slashed down its MVS sword. Toudou countered, producing his Katen Yaibotou to block it. The Lancelot pushed back on the Gekka and both Knightmares seperated.

Toudou dropped his swords and took out the custom hand gun that came with the Gekka, and fired a few rounds, intending to take Lancelot by surprise. Unfortunately, Suzaku had the same idea with the VARIS cannon. As soon as Suzaku fired the VARIS, the bullets the handgun had made were swallowed up in the flash of light and the Gekka was incinerated into nothingness, the ejected pilot flying off to safety.

"Zero!,"boomed Suzaku's voice over the battlefield,"Come out of your Knightmare and put your hands on your head. And Kallen, I advise you to do the same."

'NO!', thought Lelouch,'Not this way! Everything done today would be for nothing.'

Lelouch opened the cockpit of his Burai and stood tall, his hand on the voice amplification feature used to speak if the channel was not working or unusable.

"Suzaku! Stop this, it's me, Lelouch!,"Lelouch pried off the mask, dropping it to the ground with a clatter.

"Lel..ouch. No...it can't be. Rolo...said...,"Suzaku was taken utterly by surprise.

"Please! There have only been a few casualties, this whole battle was meant for us to lose Burai! I can explain everything to you!"

"You...betrayed me, again,"Suzaku disregarded all his words,"You...killed Nunally!"

Lelouch's eyed widened, Suzaku wasn't listening,"No Suzaku, just wait, please!"

Kallen got out of her cockpit as well,"He's telling the truth...!"

"I won't let you manipulate anyone ever AGAIN! This is for Nunally."

Everything happened in slow motion. Suzaku raised his VARIS cannon. Kallen cried out, Lelouch gasped.

The beam of light was forming on the cannon, it would be over in a few seconds...

But Kallen wouldn't let it end. In a move faster than lightning, she activated her float system and skyrocketed forward towards the White Grim Reaper, blocking Lelouch from the cannon. She reached out with the Guren's metal hand and activated the Nuclear Pulse Emitter. She didn't make it.

The Lancelot released the enormous beam of light, not seeing the Guren get in the way of his shot. The beam of energy struck the Guren...

...and then the Guren was no more.

Lelouch stopped breathing, until one word exploded out of him, just as the Guren had.

_**"NO!"**_

But then he saw that Kallen had ejected and he breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was ok. She was fine...everything was-

The escape hatch erupted in a violent flash of light. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left.

---

**The End.**

**Nah just joking.**


	8. The Scars

**Nothing Left - Ch.8**

**Author's Note: No she's not dead, I hate killing off main characters. I would really like some reviews, so i'm going to ask everyone that favorites or alerts this story to drop in a few words in a review at least once. **

**SPECIAL Note: I am now a registered Beta Reader! I take any and all requests!**

**----------------------**

_Outside BSR #12_

A spark of regret flamed inside of Suzaku Kururugi. It had been a shame to see someone like Kallen die like that. He remembered her on Kaminejima Island, finally showing him her true self, ambitious and happy. He would pray for her, despite her sins. But there was still Lelouch to take care of.

Kallen's spirit, however, had other ideas. Out of the smoke came the Guren's hand, still connected to the Nuclear Pulse Generator, and still moving forward. Suzaku could only gasp as the metallic claw dug into the Lancelot and ignited in a flash of radiated lightning. Suzaku felt the cockpit around him slowly defragmentating and breaking down. He jammed his hand into the ejection button. Nothing happened. His breath caught in his throat. He pressed it again and again and again, but there was no use. The radiation had affected the ejection mechanism. The chilling hand of doom touched his shoudler, he was trapped, and he knew it. Already he could see the sparks of red at the bottom of his feet. If he absorbed too much radiation...

Suzaku worked fast and activated the manual lock, which was essentially a hole that would make him fall straight onto the ground. He jumped out, leaving the Lancelot a second before it overheated and exploded. Suzaku Kururugi's legs buckled and broke as soon as he hit the ground, but that wasn't anything compared to when the deteriorating metal fell on top of his spine. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and nothing more than a muffled "Oh!" escaped his mouth before he grew still.

Lelouch's mouth however, forgot how to work, he couldn't scream. He kept staring at the spot where the Guren had just stood, practicaly able to see the outline of it. How had it come to this? This wasn't supposed to happen. This was never supposed to happen.

He deftly jumped to the ground, though he landed onto the Burai's outstretched palm, then onto the ground. He ran over to where the smoke still lingered, even though most of it still cleared. The escape pod had exploded here, if Kallen was still alive...

He coughed, the dirt was everywhere, straining his eyes. The scent of burning metal lingered, so there must have been some wreckage. He stumbled through the smoke, and his feet hit something hard. His eyes traveled down and found the sealed pilot's hatch. His heart soared, it was just the casing around the cockpit that must have been ejected, Rakshata had admitted about a glitch with the ejection. So that meant that the pilot's hatch could have fallen off during the ejection. Kallen could still be alive. But then he noticed that the burning smell was coming...

From the inside.

Lelouch tore open the door with a sudden adrenaline rush, and lost the rush to an onset of vomiting.

Half of Kallen was smeared on the front seat, the other half was slumped on the ground. Her body was already ablaze.

----

_6:30 P.M. _

Suzaku Kururugi woke up. His eyes stayed out of focus for a few minutes. His mind was blank as he tried to recover his bearings. There was...a light above him. It wasn't death's light, it was a fluorescent light. He tilted his head and tried hard not to close his eyes again. He felt so relaxed and content, but he knew he should stay awake. But it wasn't long before he fell asleep again.

_---_

_Order of the Black Knights H.Q, Three days later. 7:00 P.M_

Suzaku felt himself waking up again. This time, when he woke up, he remembered everything. Kallen, Lancelot, the red lightning, Lelouch.

"You know...you missed your own funeral."

Suzaku blinked. That was Lelouch's voice.

"My...funeral?"

"The Lancelot's remains were found. You were declared officially dead."

Suzaku groaned, his body no longer felt content. It was in pain.

"Where am I?"

"The Black Knights medical ward."

Suzaku was positive he didn't hear that right,"You...saved me?"

"It wasn't your fault not to believe me. But at least...my plan worked."

Suzaku tried to sit up, but he couldn't on account of that he couldn't feel his legs and that a glass case was covering his body, similiar to when Euphiemia was shot.

"Well, you have my attention...what was the plan?"

Lelouch sighed and looked away,"Suzaku, do you know what happened to Kallen?"

Suzaku opened his mouth, but Lelouch cut him off.

"The doctors say that they don't expect her to live. Her body was charred in the fire, There are over 20 cuts reported on her body, 14 of which need stitches, and she's in a coma. There are also broken bones reported. She was lucky to have escaped a flailed chest from the ribs that were fractured, both her arms are broken, and by the point I heard all that...I stopped asking what else was wrong."

"Were your intentions...at the base...were they really good ones?"

Lelouch's eyes became wet and overflowed,"I-I remembered Nunally. She had died because of m-me,"he could hardly keep his voice steady, he clenched his knuckles until they turned white,"my intention was to crush...the Black Knights."

Suzaku felt like he was being set up for a joke.

"Crush...them?"

"Yes...,"he wiped his eyes with his sleeve and kept his voice steadied,"my plan was to lead the Knights in an assault that would be harmless to everything except the Burai. Once the Black Knights lost all their Knightmares, they would no longer trust Zero, especially when Zero reported the mission had failed and that he had lost hope. I then assumed that the members would either resume being small groups of terrorists, or become Honorary Britannians. Both suited me fine...because the next phase would involve me making top of my class and enrolling in a Britannian military program. I would stop cutting class and 'turn my life around'. Using my Geas, I would slowly worm my way through the military. The terrorists that continued being terrorists would be my targets, and I would, of course, move up in the army if I performed well. I'm already a seasoned tactician and I know almost too much about Knightmares. Noone high up in the ranks will be able to stop me, they couldn't tell me that they would deny my application because I was a terrorist leader and forgot all about being one. I mainly hoped to avoid casualties on both sides so I could grab your attention from killing me to trusting me, and becoming my ally in turning the government apart from the inside. There's actually no reason for me not to continue, unless you wish to stop me."

Suzaku absorbed it all in,"So...Nunally's death..."

"-Made me consider your way, yes,"finished Lelouch,"and while I don't agree with you selling your life, I do think that becoming one with this country to forward your own goal is not as threatening as terrorism."

"Lelouch...i'm sorry. I should have at least listened to you."

Lelouch stared Suzaku straight into the eyes,"Suzaku. It wasn't your fault, you wouldn't know about my intentions. But I think my plan has fallen apart, with you here."

"Why? I can still return...to the army, there are new Lancelot model-"

"You're handicapped. You'll never walk again."

Suzaku blinked a few times, his mind unable to absorb what Lelouch had just said.

"A sheet of hard metal from the Lancelot, though thin, fell on the lower part of your spine. Your legs are paralyzed, and even that's lucky because if the metal went any higher, your neck would have snapped."

"But there are Knightmares designed for the handicapped..."

Lelouch smiled,"Those models were considered obsolete and taken down. It seems the handicapped have no role in society, do they? Just another injustice."

Suzaku tried to move his head up, he had to twist his neck just to make eye contact with Lelouch through the glass, and it was becoming very uncomfortable. His body rejected the movement and the pain burst through him.

"I...am the Knight of Seven, they will make a new Lancelot for me, a handicapped model..."

Lelouch got a surprised look on his face,"You just learned that you would never stand on two legs, and you're already making plans to return to service? I could never do that."

"Right now, I don't feel the pain, even though I know I will later."

Lelouch sighed,"I assume you know how expensive that machine was? Took a lot of Britannian taxes, it did. And a handicapped model would totally change the design and lower efficiency, and efficiency was the only reason it was built. A less skilled walking pilot is more efficient than a master who's handicapped. You'll either be demoted from Knight of Seven or taken out of the Knights of Rounds. Your faith in fairness in the world will be challenged now, I expect."

"Even if i'm out of the Knights...and my position is gone, how will that affect you?"

"I was planning to help your career anyway I could. Come to think of it, I should have killed the other two Knights on the battlefield, that would have been a great help. But you probably woudn't have approved."

Suzaku was about to answer, but then the doctor came in.

"No no, that's quite enough. The patient needs his rest."

Suzaku gaped, he just realized Lelouch wasn't wearing his mask.

Lelouch read his thoughts as he went to the door,"Everyone knows. Only 20 members stayed. The rest left in anger, i'm actually paying this doctor and the other few doctors from the Ghetto to look over both of you."

The doctor shrugged,"This _was_ the best pay i've ever gotten, from the Ghetto or from a Britannian."

--------------------------------------

_Order of the Black Knights H.Q, 11:00 P.M_

"I still fucking can't believe it. A kid. A kid has been leading us all this time."

Ogi sipped his tea. He just listened to what Tamaki rant, he could do no more than that.

The Knightmare carrier had picked up Shogo and Toudou, and then found the most bizarre sight. A Britannian student, dressed in Zero's clothing, was dragging Suzaku Kururugi from under debris, and a singed black looking object that looked remarkably like Kallen was lying on the rocks. The student was in tears. That was _Zero_. That was the man that so many looked up to, that so many hated. The broken man, standing in between a smoldering friend and an unconscious enemy.

Toudou and Shogo didn't say anything about it, not even to Nagisa. The unmasked child gave a speech of defeat to all the terrorists. As expected by Lelouch, the defeated ones applied for Honorary Britannianhood, and the angry ones went off to find another terrorist group. Diethard was especially devestated, he even threatened to shoot Rakshata if she did not speak. Minami and Sugiyama, two of the most senior members, were long since gone. Even Kaguya, who had been regularly coming to check up on her "husband", was pulled out by the Kyoto Group.

And yet, Ogi didn't think that Zero could possibly fail so badly. Could it be...no....it couldn't have been planned could it?

-----------------------------------------

_Order of the Black Knights H.Q, 11:30 P.M_

Two of the doctors walked into the room. Lelouch was seated in a chair, watching the patient encased in the glass.

"There's nothing else to see. We've done all we can. There's no telling when or if she'll wake up."

Lelouch's eyes didn't even move to regard the doctors,"I am paying both of you an extra 1,000 dollars each to ensure her life."

One of the doctors jumped at that, but the other, more "naive" doctor held him from speaking.

"You've already doubled the enormous fee, there is simply no way to buy her out of this state now."

"I can't accept that. I'll be here as long as I have to. Please depart if there is nothing else you can do."

The two nodded, one still sour about the lost pay, and left.

Kallen's body was, with no better word that could possibly describe it, simply mutilated. Stitches covered her once beautiful face and body like some monster out of a mad scientist's lab. Her skin was unrecogonizably charred in some places, but the doctors said the damage was more superficial than substantial. Both her arms were in slings, and the lower part of her chest where the ribs had fractured were covered in bandages. Other than that, her body was completely naked. Type "B" blood was pumping into her veins, but even so, her body was pearly white from blood loss. Her mouth was covered with an oxygen mask, and to top off the grim scene, the whirring of a bulky life support unit was working away in the corner. He had spent the first two days just seated, watching her. Some way or another, Rolo had covered for his absence and called in periodically to urge him home. Ignoring the urges, he spent the next day with Suzaku, and left to go back to Ashford to cover for himself. The doctor called him and said that Suzaku was slipping in and out of consciousness, and so he went to join him.

'Wake up Kallen...please.'

-------

_Ashford Academy, Student Council office. One week later._

Ms. Nu came in to the office, saying that she had just been passing by and seen Lelouch. The clever spy convincingly sold her concern to the absent Lelouch, and asked him what had happened.

"Oh, Ms. Nu, I wasn't skipping, I was really sick the last two days."

Viletta nodded and walked off, she had already heard from Rolo anyway. Lelouch had skipped school just to go back to watching Kallen. There were no changes in her condition, except that a few of her stitches were taken off. Most of them were on her face, and already a glimpse of what Kallen forever had to live looking like appeared, and sadly, permanent scarring on her face was only the beginning. The doctors sometimes said out loud that it was a shame such a beautiful young child had to suffer like that. After nearly being killed by an angry Tamaki on his way out, Suzaku returned to the Britannian army and had not been heard from since, except for the phone calls to Lelouch that said the handicapped Lancelot was in construction.

Rivalz said something that must have been pointless, because Lelouch's brain tuned him out. Other than the absences, his grades were already up. Kallen would want him to live on, to continue. But it was so hard.

Milly suddenly socked Lelouch in the stomach from under the desk.

"Ahh...! What the hell was that for?"

"Cause you really should stop thinking so much, it must hurt your brain."

If only she had a clue...

"Well, what did you want?"

Milly sighed,"I'll ask you one more time, now that i've got that brain focused for a few more seconds. Are you going to help with the fair coming up?"

Lelouch grinned,"What if I said no?"

"I'll punch you again."

"In that case, when are we putting up the flyers?"


	9. The Waking

**Nothing Left - Ch.9**

**Author's Note: If ever anyone has any questions, suggestions, or anything, don't be afraid to message me ok? Of course, that doesn't mean I won't take it in reviews either (This is a shameless hidden message meaning, REVIEW people!)**

**P.S: Ok, to the people who're thinking, wow, Lelouch is so much more sensitive, just think of all the reasons he should be ok?**

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_Former Order of the Black Knights H.Q. Two weeks later, 8:00 P.M_

All that remained of the headquarters were a few discarded weapons and dust. The doctors continued to monitor Kallen, due to the continued pay from Lelouch. C.C would drop in sometimes, but never offer words of comfort beneficial enough for Lelouch. Lelouch had become the number one student in, perhaps, all of Area 11. He had already enlisted in some military classes, but, of course, they were not physical courses, but tactical ones. He expected to transfer out of Ashford by the end of the school year with the grades he was getting in both. In any and all of his free time, he would go to the vacated base. Toudou, Shogo, Nagisa, Rakshata, Ogi, Tamaki, Diethard, and a few others kept direct contact with Lelouch, while others simply vanished. Tamaki was the only one who became an Honorary Britannian, but that was only because all the others were wanted men, and he was urged to do it. Only but a handful of empty Burai lingered in the base, and those were probably going to be left to rust.

All of Kallen's stitches had come off by now, and the burn marks were beginning to peel. Other than that, no changes in her condition. Lelouch felt bad for thinking it, but she was just plain...hideous. Patches of her hair had been burned off, and the scars were large and ugly. Lord knows how many times Kallen had cut herself in that cockpit. Her skin had all the color back, but somehow it still looked pale, a devoid puddle of flesh.

Kallen wasn't the only thing that was hideous. Lelouch had spent too much of his money, and he would have no money to move on to a military school if he continued to pay the doctors the rest of the week. Even with his mind, the military would not accept someone in their tactics division that didn't have a wallet.

One of the doctors came in. Lelouch handed him the check, and he could see the doctor frown to himself.

"That would be the appropriate number to pay, would it not?"

"Of course, I guess I have gotten a little greedy..."

The doctor left, silently chastising himself for getting used to the outrageous pay. He now could not afford his rent due to the things he was buying with Lelouch's 'Save Kallen' money.

------------

_Former Order of the Black Knights H.Q Three Hours Later, 11:00 P.M_

Her left eye opened. She tried to move but she couldn't. She felt so thirsty, but she couldn't move or get up. Everything in her body ached. She couldn't even open her eye fully, it was just a tiny slit, not enough to even see her surroundings. Temporary amnesia plagued her for a few minutes, before she remembered everything.

'Lelouch! Oh god!'

Had Lelouch been killed? How could he have survived with the Lancelot's gun straight at him. If only she had moved quicker...she could've saved him.

She nearly cried in mad despair. Everything had been lost...

'This must have been nothing to what Lelouch felt...'

She hadn't even watched him die, would that have been better or worse? Could he still be alive? She had to KNOW. Her strength left her after the mere act of moving her hand. She was able to tap the glass encasing her -that was when she realized she was in glass-, but it was barely audible mainly due to the fact that she was dehydrated and her arms were in slings. A few hopeless tears left her eyes before they closed again.

------------

_The Next Morning, 7:00 A.M_

Class didn't start until noon that day, and Lelouch decided to check up on Kallen. Overnight, he had a nightmare...there she was, broken and hurt, and crying out his name for help, like she was trapped and couldn't get out. Then the dream worsened, and then there was a monstrous lump that looked half-Kallen, half-beast, attacked him, crying "I hate you...die...I hate you...die...."

He wasn't aware he was practically jogging over all the way to the H.Q. Rolo had yet again deactivated the surveillance cameras, which he did by using a knife to make it look like a rat had chewed the wire.

When he got there, one of the two doctors was waiting for him.

"Ahh, I expected you'd check in again. She's opened her eyes, but...no, it's not amnesia, but she won't respond to-"

Lelouch was gone right after "She's opened her eyes."

He burst through the door, starting the second doctor so much, he dropped a pack of painkillers all over the floor.

Lelouch couldn't care less. He was by Kallen's side in a second. Sure enough, she was awake, and looking straight at him in disbelief.

"Oh god...Kallen..."

She couldn't believe it either. Her voice was the only thing that wasn't damaged, and she was too shocked to use it. The only response from her was the full opening of her left eye.

Without thinking, he jammed the button that retracted the glass around Kallen. The glass slid back instantly. Kallen tried sitting up again, but failed, only discovering the pain in her ribs. Lelouch grabbed her by the shoulder gently, and pulled her up. The blanket slipped off her, and she just noticed something that Lelouch didn't. Before she could say anything, she was pulled into a warm embrace. Her voice stopped working again.

"I...thought you wouldn't wake up...,"he said,"I couldn't handle that Kallen, I just-"

"Ahh...,"her voice struggled to work again, she was overly mortified. It didn't help that the doctor was looking straight at her either.

Lelouch paused and pulled away, only looking at her face. Was it too awkward to hug her? She had done it to him before...

She tapped him and pointed down.

She was completely naked.

Lelouch almost fell over and dropped Kallen back onto the pillow. He turned away to hide his blushing. The doctor however, was slow to turn around.

"Uhh...well...put that blanket on, will you?"

She struggled to move her arms,"Uhh...I can't."

Lelouch didn't even bother to hide his blushing, he turned, careful to avoid looking, and closed the blanket on her.

"Anyway...umm, i'm glad your alive is what I wanted to say."

"I thought you'd died too. How did you survive...him?"

Lelouch dismissed the doctor, who apologized for his weak moment,"Actually, that was your doing. The Guren's pulse generator hit the Lancelot, and then it crumbled. Suzaku escaped, and I brought him here. He understands my intentions now, and he's back in the military...and that's about it."

"Still...he should have listened. I wish he could pay."

"He did. Suzaku Kururugi will never walk again, he's paralyzed from the waist down...and you have to suffer too."

Kallen's heart skipped a beat, did he mean she was handicapped too?

"It's all my fault, and I escaped without a scratch. First Nunally dies, then Suzaku loses his legs, and now you..."

She could've smacked him. What was WRONG with her? What was so bad?

Lelouch opened a drawer next to Kallen's bed and produced a small handheld mirror. He walked over and held the mirror in front of her.

"...God,"she stared back at the grotesque figure. Patches of hair gone...the scarring...burn marks...and her right eye still wouldn't open, the reason, she saw, was that there was a scar over it. Lelouch put the mirror in its place and walked out of the room, leaving Kallen with the nightmarish image in her head.

-----------

_Secret Ops Surveillance Center, 2:00 P.M_

Viletta Nu sighed. The cameras had been going off a lot lately, and there was no sign of a rat infestation until today, when a few rats were found in the open. It was strange though, the rats could certainly have chewed the main wire, but there were no signs of nests nearby, or any place they could hide in, rats didn't just hop out in the open in the morning time. As if someone put them there.

'Funny, there's thousands of cameras over Area 11 and none in this surveillance center...'

A technician stated that there were multiple cuts on some of the computers that actually displayed the camera feed as well, so it was estimated they would be down for about 24 more hours. She decided not to report this to the Emperor, she could put her very position in jeopardy, and over something so trivial.

-------------

_Ashford Academy Grounds, 1:00 A.M_

Lelouch wheeled her silently through the empty school grounds outside Ashford. He had taken the opportunity while the cameras were down to take Kallen to his room, she couldn't return home looking like this...too many questions. Kallen Stadtfeld had to disappear, and it didn't feel right to leave her at the base. He could have simply made a call to Ogi or someone else and have Kallen off his hands, but he didn't want to leave her side. Her presence comforted him, and his did the same for her.

Funny, now it was Lelouch who had to get Kallen through something dramatic.

There were no people out, and only a few lights on inside Ashford. Neither had spoken since the morning, Kallen wanted to say something, but she couldn't. She knew Lelouch blamed himself for Kallen's condition, not to mention Suzaku's handicap, and Nunally's death. What if he gave in to Refrain again?

No, he'd given her his word.

But there was no doubt that Lelouch had invited new demons into his mind while Kallen had slept.


	10. The Coup

**Nothing Left - Ch.10**

**Author's Note: Ok ok, I get it guys. You don't want Kallen ugly. Ok, i'll make her all better. OOH! and while i'm at it, i'll put Kallen and Lelouch in the magical land of fairy dreams where Unicorns prance around and nothing bad ever happens. No? You don't want me to do that? Then deal with it! Wait...you do want me to do that? NO!  
**

**P.S: Somehow, this chapter didn't come out the way I wanted it to, the sentence structures just didn't mesh, and I couldn't fix em, you'll see what I mean if you look closely. Also to Aurora, your the only one out of all my reviews who told me what was wrong with my story (BESIDES Kallen's banging up), and also gave me a fair review. 7.9 out of 10 ain't bad, especially with the way I mix around character feelings and personality to fit my plot. So, in order not to lose your fair reviewing, i'll do you a little favor (see note below)**

**Note Below: Ok ok, just for the sake of your whining selves, i'll fix up Kallen a little. A LITTLE. Read on.**

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_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's room, 7:30 A.M_

"Will I ever leave?"

"I don't know."

Kallen grudgingly allowed Lelouch to bring the toasted bread to her mouth, on account that she couldn't move her hands.

Rolo's reaction upon seeing Kallen the last night was haunting him as he dribbled around his breakfast. He had actually shrieked upon seeing her, but, to be honest, noone blamed him for being disgusted. He had opened the door and been face-to-face with Kallen on her wheelchair. C.C, however, didn't react upon seeing Kallen. All she did was take Lelouch aside and tell him to "continue his mission."

Witch...

Lelouch supposed C.C wouldn't care in the slightest about Kallen's condition, but would care that Lelouch had the will to complete his contract. C.C actually appeared to dislike Kallen's survival, even if it was the slightest bit. For her to be dead might have been more devastating to Lelouch, but C.C was sure Lelouch wouldn't take his own life (she knew nothing of the refrain incident), and that he would gradually recover and seek vengeance. This way, Lelouch was to feel eternally guilty. It wasn't that C.C didn't care about Lelouch, she _had _kissed him twice, but that he was insignificant compared to her own goals.

Kallen herself was actually taking it better than Lelouch did. She supposed the hair would grow back, and the scars might fade over time. The bones could do nothing else but heal, and she already felt movement coming back. Her body had recovered a little during her coma, but not enough for her to be able to breath without the immense pain blazing across her chest.

Her right eye however, had a nasty condition. To the casual observer, the scar appeared to be a small cut over a closed eye, but to the doctor, it appeared to be a gouging of the eye. At least she hadn't ended up blind in both eyes. It was still an unpleasent and permanent effect

She cracked a sardonic smile, earning her two questioning glances (not C.C's). Suzaku was handicapped, and she had nearly been blind. It seemed that Nunally's imp was plaguing them all.

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_The Avalon, 8:00 A.M_

He was still getting used to the wheelchair. Suzaku Kururugi used to be one of the most physically active Knightmare pilots in the Britannian fleet, and although he tried to get his heart pumping from the actions of moving his chair around, there was no. Also, it became a little embarrassing at times for people to see him panting and sweating from the actions of wheeling himself around.

Lloyd had been utterly ecstatic to see Suzaku alive, and had no qualms about making a specialized model of the Lancelot prepped for him. Though this was more for the reason that Suzaku had the top synchronization percentage with Lancelot than for any bond of affection.

It was strange though, he knew he should be feeling miserable for his own losses...and yet, he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders (funny that it had happened now that he had no knees to lift it with). Lelouch had _given up_ being Zero, not just forgotten. They were friends again, working for a common goal.

The new Lancelot would take only a few more weeks to complete, since it had to be carefully manned and designed because of the delicate and potentially dangerous parts. Also, the reactor was always a threat, despite the fact it wasn't even on. Lloyd's handicap modification made it harder for Suzaku to navigate, due to the fact that acceleration was usually done with the feet, and now Suzaku had to do it with his hands. But it would be ready nonetheless, and that was all that mattered.

----------------

_Schneizel's Air Fortress, 10:00 A.M_

Nagisa checked to see if the hall was clear. It wasn't.

There were three guards around the door entrance, and they carried high-powered rifles that weren't standard issue. Even if her small, outdated Japanese handgun could take them, it would attract too many people.

'Damn...if only this were a spy movie, I could use the vents.'

Of course, the vents were out of the question. Her slender form could fit inside them, but it was a complicated maze of up and down, not to mention that the clanging and scraping of her knees against the metal would ensure her a slow and painful death when a guard discovered it.

Schneizel's quarters were hopelessly guarded. It was so much easier when Zero -a kid!- had given everyone orders to follow. Her mission however, had not been planned or ordered by anyone else. It was her own suicide mission.

Hope had been crushed for the Black Knights after the battle, and then Zero destroyed what was left. He was nothing more than a Britannian student with a master tactician's mind. Even if the whole population of terrorists were to overlook the fact, Zero would not continue with his "holy war".

_'The result of the battle has left our forces decimated, and the weapon residing in the warehouse destroyed. I had a dream to beat back this greedy empire who take lands and call them their own, spitting on the inhabitants and calling them "Elevens". It is clear now that hope is lost. The Kyoto group's supply route has been cut, refrain usage among Elevens has risen astronomically in the space of a year, and the Euphemia slaughter has annihilated many of the Japanese population. I resign my battle not out of fear, but in realization. There are simply things people cannot change through force. But rest assured, I will still strive toward the new world, and even if it takes until my last breath to see it realized, I will give you back Japan.'_

He gave up? Zero, the almighty terrorist leader had _gave_ up? If someone like him couldn't do it, then who could? Practically the next day, half of the knights had registered to be Honorary Britannians, and the other half left in disgust. The ghetto areas were openly using Refrain, and the Britannian police force in the area did nothing. Toudou, Nagisa, and Shogo hadn't been in either 'half'. They left the few Burai in the Black Knight's base behind and left with only the clothes on their backs.

And then came the most disgusting part of it all: Zero had meant to do it. He had meant to crush their hope and dream. Toudou had told her only two days before, and now, here she was, about to throw her life away in a last ditch effort to bring back the spirit of the Elevens. If she could kill Second Prince Schneizel, the Elevens might feel as if they had a chance again. Britannia's strategic military without Schneizel would be like the Black Knights living without Zero...impossible.

She gave up on hoping that the guards would move. There was simply no way into Schneizel's quarters, and getting around the air ship without being spotted had been difficult...getting on had been much easier. That was thanks to an insane coincidence involving a change in commanding officers...

_Schneizel's Air Fortress Docking Bay Area, The hour before. _

_Nagisa leapt on the feminine guard investigating the suspicious noises in the alley she had just been passing. The young recruit tried to raise her gun, but the former Holy Blade merely snapped her neck before the poor girl squeezed off a round. A few drops of blood escaped the recruit's mouth before she fell on the smooth cement. Ignoring the fallen rifle, Nagisa took the girl's clothes, I.D, and papers. The only visible difference between Nagisa and the girl facial wise were the eyes and the hair color. She hoped noone would notice the eyes. Nagisa hid her own clothes and the corpse inside a military locker that held supplies. _

_She came out with her disguise, paper's and I.D hid inside the pockets. The reason she hadn't taken the rifle was that she only needed to get past one guard, and the rifle, unlike her pistol, did not have a silencer equipped. The security checkpoint leading to Schneizel's Air Fortress had a single old man as the "guard", though he was less a guard and more a toll booth man. Nagisa had timed it perfectly, if she killed the old man with the silenced pistol, noone would know until after the Air Fortress had taken off. The unsuspecting man asked for her papers. She answered by raising her weapon and shooting his head, catching him as he fell, and hiding him on the floor of the booth he had been in._

_So far so good. Nagisa only needed to board the airship and then reach Schneizel's quarters. In her rush, she walked out without checking the area. An officer -captain of the guards!- marched up to her, only feet away from the dead old man._

_"Where the hell have you been? Is this any way to please your new commanding officer. Damn! I hate this job, why did they demote me from the warehouse...."_

_Nagisa blinked in surprise. NEW commanding officer? Had fate been on her side that day? She read the name on the officer's chest._

_"My apologies, Captain....Simon Cutting."_

_"That's Captain Cutting to you! Stupid little child,"he sighed unhappily and ranted to himself again,"I mean, sure, I hated the warehouse job, but that payed a hell of a lot better than this. I didn't even do anything! Now i'm stuck as captain of a handful of guards..."_

_"Sir, shouldn't we be boarding?"_

_"Ah...yes, yes. Come on, at least now I have a complete headcount."_

-------------------------

The reason Nagisa had to sneak around now was that she overheard two female soldiers complaining that one Simon Cutting had demanded that they show him their papers due to a corpse found in a lonely military locker. Even so, it was still remarkable that she barely met up with anyone on the way. All she had to do was steer clear of 'Captain Cutting' and she'd be fine. The last goal of her life was to find Schneizel...then it didn't matter what happened. Nagisa tried to stay calm. There could still be hope...there was a chance Schneizel wasn't in his quarters in the light of morning. He could be in one of the Knightmare hangars. She walked calmly away from the three guards at the door, all the while searching the white walls, as if hoping to find a directory.

Amazingly, she found one. There were three hangars, one of them off-limits. If Schneizel wasn't in his quarters, he would be there. She made her way there, not allowing fear to cloud her last moments.

Sure enough, the door to the restriced hangar required a passkey. It was lucky that she had had the foresight to swipe the old security guard's key cards. Nagisa inserted the card that said "RESTRICTED" and watched the door open with a hiss. She slowly walked in and surveyed the magnificent scene in front of her. A dozen Sutherlands lined the left and right walls, and the hangar exit for Knightmares were open, revealing the Britannian city and sparkling ocean behind it. She herself was standing on a huge metallic balcony, which was as high as the top of the Sutherland's heads. This must have been the emergency response room, where in the case of an attack, the pilots would leap into the ready and mobilized Sutherlands (that had float system modifications) to combat the enemy. Spiraling stairs to her left lead to the ground level.

As if fate had lended her aid again, there was Schneizel, surrounded by two guards and a dozen technicians running maintenance on the float system. There was absolutely no way she could snipe Schneizel with a handgun equipped with a bulky silencer from far range. If she were to come close to Schneizel, perhaps she could attack whilst she was being questioned. But if she were to miss...

The best option was to wait behind one of the two support columns beside the access door she had just come through. So she did. She lay crouched for hours, and she was rewarded by hearing the technicians leave one by one. Another hour of waiting, and one of the armed guards left as well, none of them taking care to notice her. She came out and peered over the balcony again. Schneizel was still there, talking to one guard and two technicians. It was time.

She cooly descended the stairs, and was noticed by the few people left in the hangar. Noone payed attention to the pretty, innocent looking girl, walking naturally down the stairs.

Nagisa realized she was now standing eye to eye to Second Prince Schneizel, only seperated by a few meters.

"Yes? What is it? You must be one of the tech-"

The guard cried in alarm,"She's concealing a weapon, my lord!"

Nagisa cursed and brought up her pistol, shooting for Schneizel's head. The loyal guard got in the way, dying instantly as his brains exploded. The technicians screamed and ran, leaving Nagisa with an unarmed Schneizel.

"And so it ends,"said Nagisa. She had won.

Little did she know Schneizel wasn't finished. Out of nowhere, he whipped out his rapier and made a jab at Nagisa, the calm, sincere look from before gone. Nagisa stepped back, despite her alarm, and fired. Unfortunately, the bulky silencer made her fire too low and the bullet whizzed straight past Schneizel's shoulder and into the ground. Schneizel went into a fencing position and skillfully jabbed at his assailant, not allowing her to aim.

Nagisa crouched and fired, all the while rolling to the left, making it impossible for Schneizel to predict her movement. The bullet missed Schneizel, but it momentarily shocked him, as was intended, and Nagisa ran towards him, firing wildly. Schneizel's right arm suddenly became riddled with three bullet holes, but his left arm was the one holding the rapier, so he ignored the pain and jabbed Nagisa. He missed because of the sudden imbalance from his other arm, but succeeded in thoroughly impaling her shoulder. Ironically, her weapon arm wasn't the one hit either. Nagisa raised her gun to his head, and Schneizel raised his sword to her neck.

They paused, suddenly realizing their positions.

Nagisa panted, "Your staring down the barrel of my gun, and i'm staring at the point of your sword. I never thought that something like that would happen."

"I find it amusing that in this kind of standstill, the other person is too scared to take the opponent's life because they fear their opponent will take their's first."

"And that all the two can do is exchange words."

"Lay down your arms and i'll yet let you live."

"This is my suicide mission. I hope you understand that I didn't intend to keep my life. I also hope you understand it's nothing personal."

"Yet, you are too scared to kill me, because your mind is confused. Human emotion is telling you now that it is wrong to take a life, and that it is wrong to throw away your own."

Nagisa sighed,"Your men will come and relieve you if I don't finish you off..."

Schneizel shakily rose his bullet-ridden arm and touched it to his heart,"I swear on my life that I will lay down my blade and allow you to leave this ship unscathed, despite your transgressions, if only you put down your arms and swear not to pick them up again. You do realize I have never done anything other than protect my country, I am not biased towards the Japanese people at all. You have no reason to hate me, or distrust me."

"It is true..if anything, you are the most 'helpful' of Britannia towards the Elevens. And the fact that you used the word Japanese...I swear to lay down my arms and not pick them up again."

Second Prince Schneizel nodded and counted to three. He dropped his rapier, and was surprised to to see Nagisa drop her weapon as well. That had been his last resort, and it had worked? If Nagisa had not dropped her weapon, he would try to pick up his sword again and hit her. But now, his opponent was...surrendering?

"As promised, I will allow your leave. But...if the Japanese are as honorable as you, maybe I have a reason to aid Elevens with my career, I-"

"I truly apologize for what I am about to do, Schneizel."

Before the Prince could react, Nagisa picked up the fallen rapier and thrust the weapon into his heart. Schneizel gaped and started coughing up blood, and with his dying breath uttered his last words:

"Clever...you didn't...pick up..._your_ weapon at all..."

Nagisa allowed the Second Prince to drop to the ground, and he became still. She knew Schneizel probably meant as he said, but this act might give Elevens hope...that was good enough. The technicians had probably called for guards by now, they would be in the hangar in seconds. She took out her cell phone and made her last call, not allowing a teardrop of fear to escape her.

Second Prince Schneizel had thoroughly underestimated his assassin. A frail looking and pretty Japanese girl seemed like someone he could talk to, or manipulate. He'd also known she had no personal reasons to kill him, and that was his mistake. It wasn't hatred for him that led her to kill him, it was love for Japan, and what such a loss for Britannia would mean to them.

The other side of the phone answered.

"Nagisa? I was worried, where were you all this time?"

"Toudou. Prince Schneizel is dead. I..."

"What? Schneizel?"

"I...have to go."

Nagisa slammed down the phone and broke it in two. She had wanted to say that she had loved him...but couldn't. She decided to keep her unrequited love secret to the very end. She picked up the bloodied rapier, and thrust it into her heart. She could've used her own weapon, but she'd promised not to pick it up.

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_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's room. 3:00 P.M._

"Toudou, are you certain?"

"Nagisa called and told me that Schneizel was dead. Zero, this could mean hopeful uprisings for the people."

Lelouch held the phone away from his mouth and openly cursed, shocking Rolo and Kallen,"What will Suzaku think when this gets out? What if Japan is lost because the people believe that the loss of Schneizel is means for hope?"

"The second question's answer is massacre. I expect you'll be finding out the first in a matter of minutes. Perhaps this is for the best, after all, your 'plan' suggests you will somehow rise to the top of the military."

"Believe me Toudou, I have means, -he fingered his Geass eye- ,to accomplish that."

"I have little reason to distrust you. Your probably the second person in all of Britannia to know the details of the assassin. Which reminds me, I still must tell Shogo. Goodbye."

The phone clicked off.

And then it rang again. The caller I.D read "Suzaku". Lelouch answered it after letting it ring a few times.

"Lelouch, i'm sure you know."

"About Schneizel's death? Toudou just called and told me."

"Did you order it? I wish you'd be truthful with me."

What could Lelouch possibly say to prove he hadn't ordered the assassination?

"No, killing Schneizel would be a step backwards. Why would I kill the only compassionate leader of Britannia?"

"Because he is of the family that you've all but exterminated. Euphemia, Clovis, Cornelia, and now Prince Schneizel." Suzaku could not bear to mention Nunally's name.

Lelouch stood rigid. He'd never explained what had happened between him and Euphie.

"Suzaku, about Euphemia, it was-"

"This isn't about Euphemia. It's about Schneizel."

"Why would I give the order for a one-woman assassination on a high Britannian official?"

"Because she was someone you could spare."

"I...don't know what to tell you."

"I know what your mind can do, Lelouch, i've seen it at work. In fact, I wonder if you used Geass on the assassin."

Lelouch tried answering, but before he had gotten out little more than a gasp, Suzaku cut him off.

"I owe you my life on many occasions, so I will not come against you for this. I only hope that you aren't lying, simply manipulating me again."

He hung up.

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**Sorry that there isn't much Kallen x Lelouch in this chapter, this was the set-up for a big scene between them later, so I hope you forgive me. **


	11. The Reflection

**Nothing Left - Ch.11**

**Author's Note: Hmm. I got 6 reviews for the last chapter, and 14-15 on each of the two before that. I find i'm getting loads of story alerts and favorites from people who don't leave a review. Please do not bother to do story alert or favorites if you don't leave a review. Reviews help me write faster. Really.**

**P.S: I messed up on something. I made Viletta's personal thoughts on being an enemy to Lelouch when she was an ally. So, starting from now, she's not his enemy. Oops.**

**P.S.S: The reason I don't incorporate too many romantic 'moments' is cause i'm trying to stay true to the show and make the characters seem more real. Don't worry, i'll fix that.**

**--------------**

_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's room. Three Days Later. 9:00 A.M._

Lelouch finished signing the military registration papers and put them in the envelope. Everything was set. He'd be going to the Britannian military the following year, leaving behind Ashford. Unfortunately, that meant he had to find a new place to hide Kallen as well. Despite his mounting emotional stress, it seemed things were going a little better in regard to his "plan". More and more Japanese were becoming Honorary Britannians, (therefore putting themselves out of harm's way), Suzaku was communicating evenly with him, and Schneizel's death was being covered up.

Of course, Schneizel's death being covered up was just another tactic the government used to temporarily avoid trouble. Lelouch had already suspected that the pompous aristocrat who had organized Schneizel's security would look to cover his own ass by releasing an official statement saying that Schneizel had died of natural causes. That way, the government would be forced to stick to that story and be unable to punish him, lest they be caught in a lie. The reason it was good that Schneizel's death was being covered up was that if word got out that he'd been assassinated by a single Japanese woman, Elevens and Honorary Britannians alike would revolt, resulting in a probable massacre for them. What would have been even better though was if Schneizel had never been killed in the first place. Schneizel was cold and ruthless in war, but serene and compassionate in morals and ethics. Perhaps Lelouch even could have gotten special attention from Schneizel when he joined the military, being "family" and all. In an unrelated matter, there was also a setback that wouldn't come into play until the death of Charles Di Britannia...that the crown prince of Britannia would have to be Odysseus U Britannia.

Though Odysseus had already been first-in-line for the throne, many people expected that Second Prince Schneizel would be chosen in the Emperor's will or by a decision by the hierarchy. Odysseus Britannia could easily be described as the polar opposite of both Schneizel and Lelouch. He was undecisive, incapable, nervous, inept, cowardly, and every other thing that a leader shouldn't be. There was still a chance that First Princess, Guinevere Britannia, would be Empress, but having a woman instead of a man as emperor...that didn't suit well with some of the younger (50-60) members in government.

Lelouch cracked his fingers together and starting sending the online application. It wasn't really required to send both an online and written application, but it was all he could do to distract himself. He hadn't told Kallen, but his mind still craved Refrain, even after all the weeks he'd sworn off of it. Suspicious that the drug had gotten stronger, Lelouch had tried to find more information from the ghetto and eventually geassed the information out of a dealer found on the streets. He revealed that Britannia was making anonymous shipments of ingredients close to the ghetto area on purpose, for Elevens to steal them and start producing Refrain. The dealer further revealed he had found this out when he overheard his boss speaking to a plain-clothes Britannian, probably a disguised agent. That information might have proved useful later, so he further instructed the dealer to get any piece of evidence he could and bring it to Lelouch the following day, and the man had turned up with a picture of an official looking Britannian person carrying a box of the plant ingredient of Refrain. Lelouch had no idea how a lowly drug dealer could have gotten such a beautiful shot, but it didn't matter.

The strenghtening of the Refrain was only just another problem, both for Lelouch and the Elevens, but it was a serious one. Lelouch was sure that none of the Elevens would try quitting as he did, and the Elevens took more than just a handful of injections.

'Should Kallen know about what's happening to me?'

His fingers paused on the keyboard, why was it that his mind kept turning to Kallen? Telling her would only worry her, and she didn't need any more grief. Right now she was laying down on the couch, mindlessly watching T.V, barely able to move her arms or legs. The only thing he had done to help Kallen was asking the doctors to make up for the ridiculous amount of money they'd been getting by giving her an artifical eye, and she didn't even know about it.

Though a simple invention, it could match the original eye perfectly, and show pixelated images of the world. The device had been redone many times over, and the blur that came with seeing computer pixels as colors faded. That way, it became very expensive, and therefore out of reach from the Elevens. The eye still wasn't perfect, and Lelouch hadn't gotten a pair for Nunally because he pointed out that it would still keep getting perfected.

The doctor's bill was unbelievable, and Lelouch would have been outraged if he hadn't purposely payed them that amount. Lelouch's money had all but been depleted. It didn't really matter though. The Britannian field applications (tactician's) school didn't require any money to join in the beginner's course, and if the student was exceptional, it remained free. If any problems were to arise, and Lelouch would need money to continue his course, he always had his Geass. It was funny, if not ironic, that Schneizel had been the one to organize the whole tactician 'academy' system.

He finished the application, (which was much faster than he finished his thoughts) and sent it. Now, there was nothing to do but go into the main room and watch Kallen, and feel that horrible pang of guilt that ran through him when he looked at the almost-corpse.

"Damn!"

Lelouch didn't even realize he had swore out loud. He'd just done it again. He was supposed to be thinking about the Refrain problem, the money issues, finishing Ashford as the top student, reconciling Suzaku, remembering Knightmare frame designs and prominent Britannian tactics he'd learned in his youth...and all he could think about was Kallen. Was she still in pain? Would she look better when her bones were healed and eye replaced? Would...

...she ever forgive him?

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_Former Order of the Black Knights H.Q. 11:30 P.M_

"What if he's planning on using these later?"

"He should've told us then."

"Toudou, this is insane."

Toudou looked up from the Burai he was hijacking,"And the chances that Zero's peace method would work aren't?!"

Shogo was slightly taken aback. Nagisa's death had had an adverse effect on Toudou, making him lose his usual demeanor. Almost like he went inwardly insane. He was planning on taking a Burai with a float system and flying to the Chinese Federation, to do Kami knows what.

"Toudou, I was more skeptical than you when I heard this "plan", but Kururugi is now in Zero's _pocket_. His interference actually made it so Zero could save him from death, so now-"

"Suzaku suspects Zero for ordering the assassination on Schneizel."

"Still, even without Kururugi in the picture, i'm sure Zero had something up his sleeve."

"Well, it doesn't matter."

Shogo paused on the hacking code he was using,"Why the hell does it NOT matter? Because Nagisa's de-"

"Shogo!"

"Nagisa's DEAD. You will not change that. She is _DEAD_."

Toudou swore and brutally punched the hacking codes into place on the Burai's computer. The dusty Burai suddenly came to life and automatically leveled its gun. In a few moments, Shogo's did the same.

"Toudou, how do you plan on ruining the Chinese Federation's slow forging alliance with Britannia? The Eunuch Generals are untouchable, and the Forbidden City is an impassable wall, and that happens to be where the business is going on. What's worse is all we got are Burai!"

"Shogo, you can come, or you can stay. Either way, i'm going."

"You know I swore to stay by your side until the new Japan."

Toudou shut the cockpit's hatch and put in the code that opened the underground passageway the Burai used to emerge from the hangar. His Burai automatically descended into the passageway. Shogo silently swore to himself and followed.

"Nagisa...why'd you have to go and fuck up?"

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_The Sword of Akasha Shrine, 12:00 A.M_

"Charles."

The Holy Emperor of Britannia glanced at his partner before continuing to watch the clouds. Even though it was dark in Britannia, the Shrine was covered in the same glow it always had. Charles often mused that the place was timeless.

"What is it, older brother?"

"Lelouch. He has stopped fighting."

"For now. He will continue soon enough. Why does it bother you? I thought this 'game' bored you."

V.V got the closest thing to an apprehensive look on his face that he could muster before speaking again.

"So, you know that Schneizel's death was not Lelouch's doing?"

"Of course. He would never make such a risky move as to send a lone woman to defeat Schneizel. He is...waiting for something."

"You do not even care for Schneizel's death?"

"One less person to succeed my throne before I can complete our pact. I might've done it later on anyway."

"Just like you did with Marianne?"

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_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's room, 4:00 P.M_

Kallen got up and stretched her arms. Some of the feeling was coming back to her fingers, and, thankfully, the few burnt patches on her hair were finally regrowing. She'd almost been afraid that the hair had lost its will to grow. Her legs had been undamaged, but getting up wasn't worth stretching because of her heavily fractured ribs. She settled back on the couch, where she'd been for days on end. The mirror was still a hard thing to look at, but before long, the scars would be the only thing that remained. Unfortunately, the scars were very deep, despite the stitches, and left gaping scratches all over her face, the smallest about an inch wide.

The air had gotten extremely thick ever since Kallen had been injured. Rolo would say nothing when she was in the same room as him, mostly because he was afraid that whatever he said might ignite into an emotional situation, upsetting Lelouch. C.C was starting to watch her very carefully, as if it was her fault Suzaku had nearly blown up Lelouch, (even though it sort of was). Lelouch averted his eyes every time they were within close proximity, she couldn't help but think it was because he was disgusted, even though she knew that it was guilt.

What if...Lelouch had continued to be Zero? There would never have been a suicidal operation at the warehouse. Lelouch was a born genius, he would surely come out on top in the end.

One thing was for sure, the tension would give sooner or later, and Kallen would be on the recieving end of it.

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**I really apologize for making this chapter the most unimportant useless-beating-around-the-bush chapter in the story, but I just wanted to get an update out. **


	12. The Realization

**Nothing Left - Ch.12 (Finally.)**

**Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter didn't come out quite right. I'm forcing myself to write fast (yes, this is what I think of fast.) Alright, I might not be working at the rate I want to be, and I want to be someone who updates often, but for some reason I can't. **

**P.S: Insert Sarcastic comment here. Then insert "Review for this story" comment here.**

**P.S.S: To those who keep reviewing that they hate me for creating a real-life situation where people actually get hurt, thanks for reviewing at least! Yes that's really all I was gonna say.**

**Note: I never intended for Kallen to look as ugly as you all think she does. I tried hard to convey that she's hurt but she'll recover, just be a little scarred. Plus, I apologize for all the he, his, him, and he's that you'll see. I just can't say Lelouch all the time, his name's hard to put in writing cause he's got a weird name. Just like him to make trouble. (See what I did right there?)**

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_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's room, 2 days later. 7:00 P.M_

Living with Lelouch had been a silent hell, and those were truly the most polite words that could describe Kallen's stay. Even though she had slept through the worst off it in her coma, the agony from the crash still lingered on her body. Every day she had to take a multitude of painkillers at assigned intervals, and she found herself taking more than she should have, a dangerous sign. Its not like she'd be the only person with an addiction in Britiannia though, it was amazing how Elevens were so heartbroken as to use Refrain. It didn't help that the Refrain was top quality, made from Britannian resources.

But no matter how clouded her mind became by the personal hell she was living, every thought came back to when she and Lelouch were laughing together. It was a single memory, but the scene after the night of Nunally's death kept replaying in her head, over and over. Lelouch had been half insane even then, evidenced by how he turned to Refrain only days later, but she still missed those few hours...

Great. Now she was insane, just like her host.

Why couldn't she just hate the man who had cost her everything? What did she have left after devoting her life to Zero? Did she even have anything before that? Naoto, not to mention her refrain-addicted mother, had already been lost to her. Why had she wanted Japan back anyway? Instead of being maimed and miserable, she could have been sitting in her mansion house, sipping wine and fattening herself like every other damnable noble.

Deep down, she must have always known that the only real reason she'd hated Britannians was because Naoto had died fighting them. Would Naoto Kuzuki even be proud of the path his little sister had taken? Actually, now that she thought about it, Naoto had never expressed any words to Kallen about following in his footsteps. He, in fact, had been fighting for her, _because _he didn't want her to fight. Naoto threw everything away, trying to ensure his little sister a happy life...

And that, Kallen realized, was why she could never hate Lelouch. The entire reason for Zero was so Nunally could live a happy life. Yes, Lelouch had killed, destroyed, and sinned for one little girl, and he'd always convinced himself that he was being an ally of 'justice' by doing so. Kallen was sure it occured to Lelouch the gravity of what he was doing, but his lust for vengeance had clouded his humanity, turning him into a demon. There would be no mercy for Lelouch's soul, even with apology and regret. he would keep paying and paying for the rest of his life, and for eternity in death.

Kallen couldn't imagine what it was like for Lelouch to be on top of the world one day, and the next, losing his sanity and nearly commiting mindless homicide.

---------

_Ashford Academy, Student Council room. 11:00 P.M_

Lelouch Lamperouge wept. The knife he'd nearly driven into his heart lay at his feet, drops of blood shining off the blade in the moonlight.

He clutched at his chest and gasped for air between shrieks of pain. The student council room had no camera's, no vents, and noone to hear him scream. There was a gaping hole in his chest where the knife had been thrust. At the last second, he'd taken the knife off of its mark, or else he would have been dead. The cut was too high and too far from any vital organs to do any damage, it was nothing but an agonizing flesh wound.

Lelouch had planned his suicide for days, not seriously at first, but eventually...

He straightened himself up, ignoring the pain and wiping his tears. He struggled to keep his face straight while he cleaned the knife and the floor off with his school uniform. Lelouch put the blade into his pocket and cooly walked off into the hall. The school was shrouded in complete darkness, and unless the surveillance cams were equipped with night vision, he would be unnoticed by Viletta's monitoring team. Even if they did have night vision, the only thing they would see was Lelouch walking to his room, mysteriously covering his chest up.

If only he could turn back the clock so he could have never met C.C. He could have stayed with Nunally, and Euphie would still be alive, Suzaku could have his legs, and Kallen...there were too many things about Kallen he wished he could have changed.

Lelouch couldn't help but drop to his knees, his head was becoming light, the world becoming dark... He bit on his lip, stood up, and continued his 'moonlight stroll'.

Finally, he knew he would not make it to the room conscious. Fear of dying finally settled in, though he knew enough about killing people to know he wouldn't perish from the wound unless an unlikely infection settled. Lelouch calmly walked into the nearby bathroom, snapped the knife's blade from its handle, then dumped both into the trash wrapped in a paper towel. His mind was trying to shut down, but he wouldn't allow it to happen until the wound was 'cleaned', meaning he wet a towel and wiped up the blood around the wound, then put another towel to plug the bleeding up. At last, he stumbled into a stall and proceeded to faint. As everything became cloudy, he wondered what was worse, the pain and suffering...

...or the fact that no matter how many times he tried to kill himself, it never quite worked out.

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_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's room. 3:00 A.M_

Kallen nearly leapt off the couch when Lelouch banged on the door. She yawned and looked at the time. Where the hell had he been? She tried to get to the door, but saw that her wheelchair had rolled about ten feet away after she fell asleep waiting for Lelouch. Annoyed, she waited until C.C answered the door (Rolo was sleeping in Viletta's surveillance room).

Lelouch stumbled in, almost like a drunk man at a bar, but quickly composed himself before Kallen could take much notice. She could have sworn there was a look of pain in his eyes when he did straighten up though. Ignoring it, she turned to C.C without addressing Lelouch's late return.

"Hey C.C, remember that favor I asked you a little earlier?"

"Yes."

"Can you do it for me now?"

"Alright."

Lelouch didn't even bother asking. He did his best to keep his face straight and tried to walk into the other room, but before he could do so, C.C suddenly jumped in front of him. Before he had a chance to ask, C.C beat him over the head with a thick volume of '_Cooking in Britannia'_, then kicked him in the stomach. While he keeled over in surprise, she pushed him headfirst into the T.V screen. A few seconds and a ringing headache later, he found himself sprawled on the floor, his chest wound reopened by the impact. Without even asking why he'd just been mauled, he deliriously attempted to stand and leave the room, which unfortunately ended with him knocked back onto the ground. Once again, he felt the world becoming darker...

----------------

_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's room. 3:30 A.M_

Lelouch blinked a few times until his eyes were completely open, though he still felt like going back to 'sleep'. He tried to sit up, but found that his chest was heavily bandaged, and his shirt off. Upon regaining the last of his senses, feeling, his head started to pound from being bashed open by a cookbook and smacked into the screen of his own T.V.

Basically, he felt like hell, the place he almost went to just a few hours ago.

"That big cutting knife? The one that you were sharpening yesterday? It's missing, Lelouch."

Lelouch turned his head to where Kallen had just entered the room. She looked angry, yet...her eyes were red. Like she'd just been crying.

"When I saw that wound, it's funny, but I instantly guessed where it came from."

This time, Lelouch turned his head away, he definitely owed her an explanation (more like an apology), but his head hurt too much to think straight. He assumed she would understand that he was a little worn out from all the abuse done to him. Unfortunately, that same headache burned even worse when Kallen used her good leg to kick the back of his head from her spot in the wheelchair.

_"_DAMN YOU! LOOK AT ME!"

For the first time in weeks, he'd realized that he'd never looked Kallen directly in the face, and his mental image of her had been of that after the crash. She certainly did look better, the arms were healing nicely, the hair had grown back, the lesser scars were fading, and she had a hell of a lot less burns covering her skin. Of course, that infuriated look was something he certainly would need to "bandage",before his head started needing one.

"Kallen...I don't know what I can say to you."

Kallen looked down,"How about you tell me why?"

Lelouch gave her a crooked smile,"I want to go to hell faster, save someone else the trouble of doing it themselves."

"So there is nothing left to live for? You'd rather kill yourself with a kitchen knife?"

Lelouch felt familiar sorrow dawning on him once more,"I've killed everything i've had to live for, remember? Ironic isn't it? My family and everyone i've ever called friend have suffered because of me. Clovis, Euphie, Cornelia, Schneizel, Nunally, the black knights, the japanese, all of them. If I never became Zero, more than half my family would be alive, not to mention a good number of Japanese. Look at Suzaku, he used to jog for hours a day, even as the Knight of Seven, and now he won't even be able to walk again. And i've hurt you in so many ways. I was just too cowardly to kill myself. There is nothing left to live for."

"Nothing left to live for? What about Rolo...C.C? Can you explain them? They've stuck by you all this time...and they knew all along what you were, what you'd done."

"Rolo is an obediant killer whose mind was poisoned by the Britannian Empire, which suited my needs perfectly, so I manipulated him. He would have killed me if not for my trick. C.C only needs my services, and must stay by me now because she can find no other. If there was another like me who were more useful, she would leave. She has no loyalty to me, only a pact."

Kallen felt her good leg twitch, wanting to kick him again. She was getting a bit tired of this cycle of Lelouch feeling suicidal and Kallen having to comfort him.

Lelouch took a deep breath and forced himself into a sitting position. he turned to face Kallen once again, they were eye to eye now.

"Kallen, the things i've done will never be erased. I have changed the world for the worst, and I can't change it back. There is no point pretending the things I did never happened, I would rather be dead."

Kallen smiled sadly,"I didn't mean to say it could be erased."

Lelouch stood on his feet and knelt down to level with her face again,"What were you saying then?"

"That sin can't be erased, but it can be repented. If you cant think of anyone to live for, then live for the dead."

"The...dead?"

"Think of Euphy and Nunally. Euphemia put her very status as royalty in danger just to try and bring Britannia and Japan together, and Nunally agreed to become governor to further that goal. Think of Schniezel and Cornelia, both brave and strong leaders, the flawless heirs to the throne. They worked to the end of their lives to stop war. The Black Knights that followed you wanted future generations to recognize themselves as Japanese, and not as Elevens. Keep their dreams alive and make them reality. Isn't that enough to live for?"

They stared at each other until Lelouch finally nodded, stood up, grinned, and spoke.

"Who replaced Karen Kozuki, the Red Lotus, with a philosopher? Your talking as if you were a motivational speaker. 'Keep their dreams alive and make them reality?' I wonder where you ripped that off from?"

Kallen was speechless and a little disturbed until she realized what he was doing. It was just like when...

"So an ace knightmare pilot can't know any good lines?"

"An ace? Wow, and you used to be so modest. Weren't you the one who said, 'I'm just working for the cause of Japan, im just a part of the whole.'"

"I was speaking to Zero before I knew he was a good 20 years younger than everyone thought he was."

"What did one have to do with the other?"

"Well if i'd known who you were, i'd probably have said something like,"You should really get off your high and mighty ass and fight with us instead of congratulating me."

"Right...that's exactly what you would have said."

"Alright, maybe I wouldn't have said that just because you were congratulating me. I just kind of remembered that from when Tamaki said it. You know, before he started worshipping you."

"I'm guessing he said that around the time I started using him as live bait?"

"When did you...?"

"Remember when his Knightmare's flare gun 'glitched' and brought all attention on him and away from me? You can imagine I was pretty surprised to see him alive after that."

Before Kallen could come up with a comment, Lelouch suddenly gasped and dropped to his knees. Despite herself, Kallen stood up, ignored the pain in her own ribs, and gently led Lelouch back to his bed. His breathing came in short bursts.

"I never knew...how much of an arm C.C had,"Lelouch wheezed.

Kallen smiled and checked the knife wound,"All I did was ask her to beat some sense into you. It's almost as if she was going to do it herself from the way she socked you."

"Kallen...what exactly do you think your doing?",said Lelouch. Kallen had been pressing her hands down on Lelouch's chest.

"I'm checking to see if you reopened the wound. What did you think I...you pervert."

"Your putting your hands on my chest, what am I supposed to think?...And Kallen, you can take them off now."

"What? Oh,"Kallen turned red, she'd inadvertently used his body as support just to keep hers up. Also, one of her hands had reached the skin of his neck.

Lelouch sighed as soon as Kallen settled back into her wheelchair,"Not as humorous as the last time, but...I guess its gotten even harder to make a joke since then."

"Lelouch, if there's anything I can say to you-"

Lelouch interrupted,"Kallen, why don't you hate me?"

"You've wanted to ask me that for a while, haven't you?"

"I obviously don't need to tell you how I ruined your life, so why do you still comfort me when...well, when im like this."

"You mean suicidal?"

"Are you avoiding the question?"

"Yes, because i'm not too sure about the answer."

"Well, think about it,"Lelouch shifted uncomfortably, he couldn't find a comfortable position, on account that his back, his front, and his side was bruised.

"Oh and by the way Kallen, in two days your getting an eye replacement."

"How could you afford that?"

Lelouch wondered if he should tell her that nearly all of his money had gone to the 'Save Kallen' fund. He decided against it.

"I asked really nicely."

"Your smarter than that, Lelouch. Can't you think of a better excuse?"

"What can I say?,"he fingered his chest,"I seem to have lost my touch."

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**I tried to get a beta for this, but as you can see, this chapter sucks and I couldn't get one. Sorry. I should really get others to beta for me.**


	13. The Peace

**Nothing Left - Ch.13**

**Author's Note: Umm...nothing. Just look at the P.S stuff...oh and that note I stuck at the end is pretty important too.**

**P.S: I am going to change certain details about Code Geass that will either piss some of you off, or confuse you. I'm sorry, but i made this after R2 #6, and i've contradicted the series too many times to fix my mistakes.**

**P.S.S: My sentence structure may be the crappiest ever in this chapter. Sorry. I lost this chapter on my computer, meaning it was erased, somehow. I had to retype it, and I didn't feel like going through all the reediting. Just bear with the sloppy run-on's and word repetitiveness.**

**Note: Please check the poll in my profile. I have two ideas for stories, but I can't decide which one to go with.**

**----------------------**

_The Chinese Federation. Forbidden City Outskirts, 3 days later. 7:00 P.M._

"This...is real messed up, Toudou,"panted Shogo.

Toudou didn't answer. Instead, he continued to pound the tree with his fists.

They had left their Burai over 10 miles away, and had walked all the way to the forest overlooking the Forbidden City. Their food and water supply was limited to what the Burai's cockpit and the hollows of its chest would carry, so they had only about 3 days of water as well as 1 day of food left, but only if they rationed it carefully. Neither had even brought a gun, leaving Shogo seriously doubting his leader's psychological health. The only thing Toudou had done since setting up a campfire and a couple of lean-tos was practicing Taido on a defenseless Chinese Banyan tree.

"The world's gone mad...,"muttered Shogo.

Toudou, finally growing tired from the hike and practicing, settled down and took a sip of water from his pack.

"My contact is going to meet us here in a couple of days. We eat half the food tommorow, half the food the next day, and we'll keep enough water for the trip back to Britannia."

"My GOD! Toudou! You expect us to go back to Britannia? We are standing on the front door of the most fortified and sacred place at the Chinese Federation, I don't even want to know how you could have possibly gotten this location! Also, by contact, I assume you mean a Chinese contact. I have seldom heard of anyone that is not a zealot of the Eunuch's allowed to even know where the location of this city is. Kyoshiro Toudou, I doubt you for perhaps the first time."

Toudou's expression remained neutral.

"I've dealt with this man before, and I have held a communication link with him since the Euphemia Slaughter. Though, honestly, I have no idea whether he will bring the Chinese Federation's might down on us, or help us accomplish our goal. Shogo Asahina, before you speak, there is something you must realize. You are not a member of the Four Holy Swords anymore, you are my partner. As is the custom with a partnership, when one leaves, it must be disbanded. You can leave anytime you want."

Shogo sighed,"I'm sorry. That was unnecessary. Of course you know what your doing. I just believed so strongly that your actions now are on account of Nagisa's death."

Toudou smiled,"My actions are on account of Nagisa's death. I am being reckless. You are right to doubt me. I was not trying to make you feel the need to stay when I said you can leave anyime you want. I really meant that you should consider your own safety and whether or not you'd be willing to do something so reckless, and possibly die with me."

"Till' the new Japan..."

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_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's Room. 1 day later. 10:00 A.M_

At last, the tension had lifted. For the first time in months, the weight of the world was lifted off of Lelouch's shoulders. He knew that the peace was temporary, smart as he was, but he simply ignored it and spent what was left of his time at Ashford to get reacquainted with his former, more innocent, self. After all, he was still in his youth, and there would be even harder times ahead of him due to the paths he'd chosen.

Currently though, he felt like collapsing on his four-poster bed and sleeping rather than face a day at Ashford. Not that he particularly hated his school life, but today had started out a bit unfavorably.

_------------_

_Former Order of the Black Knights H.Q. 12:30 A.M_

_"Are you sure everything's fine?",Lelouch asked._

_The doctor became irritated. Though it was nice to see another side to Zero, he thought of this side as annoyingly maternal. Of course, he didn't say anything much farther than reassuring him that Kallen was indeed fine. Lelouch had done nothing but pester him since he brought Kallen into the medical ward. At first, back when the girl was still in a coma, he'd thought the two were lovers, but now he thought they had more of a brother/sister relationship than anything. Not that one lover wouldn't pay around a quarter million dollars for another lover, but it seemed that normally, paying what was worth your house was something that people related to each other would do, not something that one person who'd known the other for about two years would do. This operation wasn't even to save her life or anything, it was just the most effective, accurate, and mechanically efficient model of the artificial eye that money could purchase._

_Lelouch had already observed the schematics, the file folder containing all the designs, and even insisted on watching the surgery to make sure nothing went wrong, but despite all that, and the fact that he could probably do the surgery himself if he'd wanted to, Lelouch was still worried. Finally, he realized that, if anything, his constant interrupting the doctors would do little more than distract them._

_In a few hours time, the eye had been placed flawlessly into the empty socket. Every detail of the eye matched the other perfectly, down to the exact shade of blue. Of course, it wasn't as easy as placing a mechanical eye into a socket and calling the operation a doctors spent 5 and a half hours carefully rerouting the eye to connect to the optic nerves, so when Kallen woke up, that eye could send signals to the brain and produce images. _

_Satisfied with the work that was done, Lelouch dismissed the doctors and seated himself in the waiting room. Quickly becoming bored of that, he took a walk around the abandoned base, finding nothing more than bad memories and a thick layer of dust. About an hour later, he happened upon his old quarters. He inputed the 27 figure pass code, and the door slid open_. _Inside was nothing more than a bed, a computer, a desk, and a closet. Lelouch unhooked the computer, and took a briefcase from the closet. The briefcase contained a spare mask of Zero, and for some strange reason, he couldn't just leave it in there to rot. Though he had left and planned to leave Zero behind, it was as if the mask was a symbol of all the wrongs he needed to right, so he would keep it as a constant reminder of his sins._

_Finding nothing else noteworthy, Lelouch started to walk back to the medical ward, but did a double take as he passed the Burai hanger. There was something immensely suspicious about the two big gaps in the wall where some of the last Burai had stood. There had been only 5 Burai left after the warehouse incident, and now there were only 3. After pondering it for a few moments, he finally decided that former black knights had broken into the base and stolen the Burai. Seeing as the Burai couldn't be tracked back to the base, Lelouch supposed that there was no harm in it._

_Shrugging, Lelouch went back to the medical ward to see that Kallen had already woken up. He was about to greet her before she struck him squarely across the jaw. _

_Recoiling, he put some distance between them before Kallen could hit him again._

_"What the hell was that for?,"he said, marvelling at how speedily Kallen's right arm had recovered._

_Kallen shook her head in disbelief. She brandished a piece of paper in front of Lelouch and motioned for him to read it._

_It was the bill._

_--------------------_

_Present_

Kallen had been more angry than Lelouch had anticipated. She'd had no idea that he'd spent about all the money he had to save her after the crash. Immediantly, Lelouch regretted two things; leaving the bill in the operating room, and not using Geass to get a 'discount' from the doctors.

Lelouch smiled. At least this time, the fight had been about something less serious than the ones where he tries to kill himself, but is somehow convinced otherwise. Anyway, there was no way that Milly would evict him from the room, and he'd be leaving Ashford soon for the military. Any other concerns could be solved by Geass and the backup account Lelouch had began to store as Zero, right before the Nunally incident.

Speaking of Zero, the mask had been hidden away in a combination briefcase, and then placed inside an executive vault in Lelouch's closet. Of course, if any Britannian wanted to get in and see its contents, they would get in, safe or no safe, but it did good for Lelouch's peace of mind to know that the mask was locked away. This actually irritated Kallen more when Lelouch didn't tell her what was in it. The phrase 'overreacting' popped into Lelouch's mind whenever she started to rant about how idiotic he was.

Somehow, Lelouch began to have the feeling that Kallen was secretly flattered about what he was willing to pay to save her life. Didn't seem like he had anything to worry about if that was the case. Lelouch yawned and grabbed his books, he'd ditch at Gym period and get some sleep after Viletta took attendance. It was funny how she never thought to mark Lelouch absent, knowing he would run straight out the door.

Out of nowhere, an alarm blared. Bewildred, Lelouch looked out the window and was blinded by flashes of red and blue. A voice magnified on a megaphone boomed through the air.

"Lelouch Lamperouge! This is the Britannian Police Force! You are under arrest! Come out peacefully, or we'll open fire!"

However, the person outside opened fire anyway, and the sound of shots being fired filled the air.

Kallen dashed in, having heard everything, and holding a gun. Lelouch took the gun and crouched, prepared to shoot or Geass anyone who came in. C.C was nowhere to be found.

The gunfire stopped and Lelouch held his breath, imagining a giant ram being readied to bash his door open. That's why Lelouch was so surprised when the door clicked open by itself. Lelouch removed the safety from his gun with his sweaty fingers, intending to go down fighting...

Rivalz stepped in through the door, choking with laughter, Milly right behind him.

Lelouch blinked, and Kallen dropped to her knees in relief.

"I wish I coulda' seen your face! Haha! ...is that a gun?"

Lelouch swore to himself and the gun down.

Milly took it and reset the safety,"I didn't know you had a gun."

Rivalz whistled,"What the hell were you gonna do? Fight off the Britannian Police?"

Several people were gathered at the doorway, probably spectators to the event.

"...Ahhh...,"Lelouch had been caught in a rather awkward position.

Milly opened the gun, and saw a neat little row of bullet's, all ready to fire.

"This thing's full...you were really gonna shoot someone."

Rivalz finally noticed Kallen, who had been behind Lelouch during the entire exchange.

"What the hell! Kallen? What happened to you?"

Milly sighed in relief,"We thought you were dead, you were gone so long. Just what happened?"

Kallen was silent as she tried to think up a decent lie. Failing to do so, she decided to turn to the master of lies for support.

"Lelouch...maybe you should..."

"Ah, right." Lelouch activated his Geass...

-----------------

_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's Room. 11:00 A.M._

Lelouch helped Kallen back into her wheelchair (she'd left it in Rolo's room). Kallen was slightly shaken from the whole thing, suddenly realizing that it was dangerous to to stay in Ashford, especially since the lunatic president had a key card to enter any room on campus. It was also dangerous for Lelouch, because as soon as she got caught, he would have no Geass to worm his way out of the situation.

It really hadn't been a bad prank. They'd had two people flash blue and red flashlights on the window, simulating police cars, and they'd gotten toy guns to make the "bullets". He didn't know why, but Lelouch got the feeling they were Milly's, judging by how she'd handled the safety on the real gun. Rivalz had used his voice to make a siren, and they'd smuggled a megaphone out of the drama department to complete the siren's effect. So it was really unfortunate that they forgot the whole thing, along with the crowd.

Lelouch, though annoyed by the whole thing, wondered if he'd ever see Rivalz, Milly, or any of his friends at Ashford again. He'd always thought of Ashford Academy as his home, and realizing that he'd leave it in a few months was something he had never quite absorbed.

It wasn't really the time to second-guess his choice to leave, after all, Lelouch couldn't just pretend he was an innocent schoolboy and move on with his life. All he could do now was enjoy the time he had left.

-------------------------

_Outside the Holy Britannian Capital. 5:00 P.M._

C.C stopped the truck and got out. She could no longer wait for Lelouch to worm his way through the military. Besides, even if she did wait for him to get into the position to Geass someone into making Suzaku eventually become Knight of One, all that would do is give Japan freedom. C.C instead decided to present herself to Charles, and have him grant her wish.

She didn't care that Charles would have the key to Ragnarok, even though Lelouch was his son, they were different in power. Lelouch could not give her what she wanted.

So, C.C would give Charles what he wanted, and end everything here.

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**Thanks go to the beta reader of this chapter, xX The Gray Lady Xx**

_**(Author's Note: Here's one of the many details im changing. C.C is the key to Ragnarok. As in the thing Charles wanted to do before he died in the real series)**_


	14. The Calm

**Nothing Left - Ch.14**

**Author's Note: An update? **

**P.S: Wow it's actually an update.**

**P.S.S: I've realized waiting around for 13 chapters is extremely boring especially with no fluff in it, so I thank the people who have been patient and apologize to them. Sorry for the wait. Oh and I know im screwing the whole Geass series in accuracy, but remember this story was started a tthe beginning of R2.**

**P.S.S.S: i've also realized a long time ago how gay this P.S thing is, but...**

**-------------**

_Shrine of Akasha. 7:00 P.M_

C.C had been rushed to the emperor upon arrival, which struck her as odd. She'd imagined that there would be few who could recognize her on sight, even in the capitol building.

Now, she was waiting for Charles to fulfill both of their wishes. At his side, V.V stood, pleased that his pact with his friend and partner could finally come to fruition. Charles took his time in preparing...after all, C.C was here, and she wasn't going anywhere. C.C didn't mind waiting a bit longer...

----------

_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's Room. 1 day later. 4:00 P.M._

Lelouch Lamperouge always took his life systematically, considering every possibility or outcome in any situation presented to him. That meant also considering every consequence of an action or mistake. It may have seemed tedious to any normal person, but this was the habit of a genious whose ambition had led him to become a hunted man.

Right now, however, the only thing he could think of was the consequence of his action.

He'd always regarded Kallen as a special person, someone valuable and priceless to him-both as Zero and as Lelouch. She was undoubtedly a Knightmare pilot on par with the Knights of Rounds, and as a person, she was passionate, gentle, and pure of heart. Of course, the pure of heart part never really shone through that nightmarish hatred for Britannia.

If Lelouch were to take qualities such as her personality and her dominance on the battlefied into account and put them together, she would undoubtedly add up to someone that Lelouch needed in order to survive. How many times had he let Kallen take matters into her own hands in the field, how many times had it been up to her to shift the tide of battle? She would be his trump card, and everyone else under his command would be more or less than a last resort in comparison. As Zero, this mentality of needing her typically became a common thing. As Lelouch, until quite recently, he didn't really give a damn about her. Though he would have never allowed harm to her as Lelouch, he still saw her differently than how Zero did.

As smart as Lelouch was, he hadn't realized that he'd been fooling himself all this time...in the sense that he'd seen and cared for little other than a young, beautiful woman for weeks without even considering his feelings for her. He'd been too preoccupied with his own thoughts and concerns for the future.

Friendship had been enough for Lelouch. That is, it had been, until Lelouch had kissed her.

The actual event had been so random, Kallen had asked Lelouch to check her artificial eye (to see if it looked exactly like her real one). Next thing either of them knew, they were locked in a long and passionate kiss.

Now, as Lelouch recalled the event, he remembered how fragile she looked, how beautiful she was, how her breath had intoxicated him when their faces had closed in...

And he also remembered how, even as he was in her embrace, even as their lips met...that there was a feeling in him that he'd made a grave error. It was not that Kallen wasn't the perfect woman to love, it was that Lelouch was afraid he wasn't the one who should. A marked man who'd taken lives in pleasure, a man who's mind was sardonic in nature, and a man who stood a good chance of not dying from natural causes...

It was as if he thought she hadn't done anything regrettable. To Lelouch, she was a guardian angel he never deserved to have. He still hadn't realized that Zero hadn't been the only evil in the Black Rebellion. Kallen, Toudou, Shogo, Nagisa, Diethard, everyone who had supported Zero was, in a way, a part of Zero and his sardonic ambition. Zero was not a person, he was a symbol, and people followed him to the death until the Black Rebellion had failed. When Zero had returned, the Elevens happily embraced him yet again, he was a divine symbol. They would die and they would kill for him. Kallen had killed for him, and each time had ran the risk of dying. She was invulnerable when Lelouch knew nothing about her, in the early days of Zero. As he did get to know her, he found that she was still invulnerable. Noone could break her, and she could worm her way out of any situation, and kill any foe. A lesser pilot of the Guren could never match Lancelot, and a lesser woman in comparison to her would be any woman that had ever walked the Earth.

But the fact still remained...they'd killed people. They'd started war. Without Kallen, Lelouch might have perished against the Lancelot much quicker, and without Lelouch, Kallen would have perished in battle with the Britannians, without a suitable leader or Knightmare to match her skills. Perhaps the world would have been a better place without them.

The grand scope of things, however, was not what Lelouch was thinking about now.

Rather, he was thinking if he'd just closed a door to his friendship with Kallen and opened one to something deeper. Lelouch was not prepared to go that path, and if need be, he would break her heart, (if, truly, she loved him too). Even though neither of them were in immediate danger as they had been in the Black Knights, Lelouch always ran the risk of being discovered. Especially with Madam "Nutjob" President around, she'd tried the exact same prank again and had been disappointed to find that Lelouch wasn't very impressed.

Many people wished they were a genious. But Lelouch, on the other hand, would tell them that geniouses often thought too much.

---------

_Shrine of Akasha. 5:00 P.M_

Charles didn't know whether to be pleased or not. It turned out that C.C only had part of the 'Code' to unlock Ragnorok. He'd assumed she would be half of the key, and V.V would be the other half. However, both Charles and Lelouch, as a result of being bonded to them, also held a piece. That meant the only thing standing between Charles and the end of the world (or as Charles thought of it, The New World), was Lelouch.

The Emperor gazed out at the clouds once more. C.C and V.V watched expectantly.

A slow smile formed on his lips. He'd had fun with his games, but they'd grown all too boring.

A few minutes later, in front of Gino Weinburg, Anya Earlstreim, Bismarck Waldstein, and Suzaku Kururugi, the 98th Emperor of Britannia gave his private soldiers a simple command:

"Capture him."

-------------

_The Chinese Federation. Forbidden City Outskirts, 7:00 P.M_

"Contact,"muttered Toudou.

Shogo stepped out of the shadows and waved to the figure. The figure waved back.

"That's him."

Shogo sighed. The last man he'd waved to had turned out to be a man drunk on sake who'd thought he should take a walk in the forest.. Shogo had, at first, expected that man to be the contact, cleverly pretending to be a drunkard and...relieving himself on an oak tree. Unfortunately, Shogo had overestimated the acting skills of the supposed contact and had waved to him when he'd straightened up. Amazingly, the drunkard had seen him even through what must have been hazey vision. The man started to fumble with his belt to produce a rifle, but Toudou, checking to make sure the man was indeed not his contact, fired on him with a silenced pistol. The man went down, and the duo added a rifle and a corpse to their collection.

"I presume he speaks Japanese?" asked Shogo.

Toudou nodded and motioned for the man to get into cover.

Shogo saw that this man was no fool, he ducked into the brush, checked for any unlikely passerby's, glanced at the walled city, and creeped his way through the darkness (it had been a particularly short day). Shogo saw an old style sword on the man's waist, and instantly knew this was noone to trifle with.

"Sword always means badass...,"mumbled Shogo.

Toudou did something between a chuckle and a snort before keeping a lookout for any snipers in the brush.

"Quickly. We may have already been spotted at such close proximity."

The man nodded, and he quickened his pace. His footsteps were no louder.

After what seemed like an eternity, the swordsman finally reached them. Shogo recognized him from the Chinese Embassy.

"I am Li-Xingke."

"And this man is Asahina Shogo," said Toudou.

Xingke nodded politely. Shogo felt like shooting him.

'Fucking official, carrying that sword like he's high and mighty...might as well be another Eunuch General, he's around them all the time...'

"Now then, we'll begin as planned, if there is nothing more to prepare,"said Li-Xingke as he turned back towards the Forbidden City.

Toudou coughed, Xingke turned around.

"What is the reason?"

Xingke frowned,"We agreed not to speak of it."

Toudou pressed him gently,"I'd rather like to know."

"Bah...we agreed on the terms. I aid you in capturing Tianzi if only Tianzi remains unharmed and under my care and judgement."

"It sounds as if you'd like to kidnap Tianzi for whatever reason, and then kill us once you have her so we would not turn him over to 'Lord' Zero."

Li-Xingke could have gone a lot of ways with his next reaction. But what he did totally set him apart from Shogo's impression of him being a Eunuch.

"Yes."

Shogo smiled,"There is no Lord Zero for us anymore. We don't wish to harm Tianzi or even touch her."

Li-Xingke chuckled a bit,"A subordinate of the Master of Lies wishes to sway my guard for his own purposes. Shall I play along, or shall I cut him down and report them to the Eunuch's? Perhaps both?"

That would have sounded like a threat, but neither Shogo or Toudou saw it as one. In fact, that remark turned out to be the icebreaker.

Toudou offered him a drink. Xingke accepted and rested his back to a tree.

"So...Tianzi does not interest you?"

"Not in the least. We just wish to break the forging alliance between the Federation and the Holy Britannian Empire."

"Reasonable."

Shogo stayed silent. He would not let Xingke double-cross him, and despite Toudou's friendly act, he was sure Toudou felt the same. None of the three were fools. They were warriors from two seperate worlds, and working together would mean breaking their codes of honor, and most importantly, their bond of trust between allies.

Xingke held up a small control panel he'd fastened to his waistband. It had a button sticking out its side.

"When I press this, every Knightmare Barracks and Surface to Air site will be detonated. Get your Burai and meet back when I signal you with a searchlight."

For many lives this night, all hell would break loose. The battle of the Forbidden City, and the battle to capture Lelouch...noone could ever predict how many lives could have possibly been lost. Noone could predict how the carnage would rip apart the world.


	15. The Revolution

**Nothing Left - Ch.15**

**Author's Note: I had a sudden stroke of feeling like writing. I amaze myself sometimes.**

**PLEASE READ ALL: I mean no offense to any cultures or religions in this chapter. When I say Praise to our God, I purposely left out Allah because it could be offending to someone. I can edit this chapter if anyone is offended. If any one person is offended, please speak up, I do not wish to offend any parties or cultures. I repeat, I DO NOT WANT TO OFFEND ANY RELIGIOUS MEN OR WOMEN READING THIS STORY AND I AM SORRY IF I DO, PLEASE CONTACT ME IF THERE IS ANY OFFENSE AND IT WILL BE DEALT WITH AS INSTRUCTED.**

**P.S.S: I apologize for any slip ups I made on locations and people's.**

**------------------**

_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's Room. 7:10 P.M_

It was amazing that they could even stand to be in the same room. Lelouch felt an uneasy tension nothing like his suicidal ones before. Neither Kallen nor Lelouch were speaking to each other. Whatever was the reason, embarrassment or awkwardness, Lelouch knew it was just a matter of time. So lost was he in his thoughts and contemplations that he didn't realize that the channel flipping he'd been doing on the television was interrupted by an anonymous broadcast, low in quality and seemingly amateur.

Lelouch gaped at the television screen when he realized that the place was the Forbidden City, and the only thing illuminating it on the poor cameras were the columns of flame and smoke spewing from the buildings.

----------

_America. Area 3. Former New York Square. 7:15 P.M_

The Threes and Britannians turned towards the huge T.V screen to see an unfamiliar place ablaze.

One American pointed towards the screen and yelled,"The hell is this?"

"It's the Chinese Federation, and its the capital city!"

"Isn't that where the alliance talks between Britannia and the Federation are taking place?"

The Britannians looked dumbstruck. Odysseus u Britannia had been set to marry Empress Tianzi in the very place that was now alight with flame. It had been all over the news, even this far around the world.

"Look! Those are Japanese Knightmares!" cried another American.

A woman blessed herself, "Revolution! It's finally happening...!"

The giant T.V screen changed to reveal a World Map showing the Britannian Territory in blue, the Chinese Federation in red, and the Euro Universe in yellow. Several dots with two swords crossed over them placed themselves all over the Britannian territories.

-------------

_The Middle East. Saudi Arabia. Area 18. 7:20 P.M_

The guerilla forces watched the small T.V set with fascination. The map indicated that battles were popping up all over Britannia. Some of them even moved, and more instanly spawned in the Chinese Federation where the borders between the EU and Federation met.

The Arabs spoke excitedly in their own language.

"It's finally our time."

"No mercy to Britannia!"

"Praise to our God!"

"To the Glasgows! We'll aid the revolution!"

The warriors cheered and grabbed their weapons and personal belongings. They would not be coming back until their oppressors were defeated.

---------------

_T.V Station in Britannia. 7:25 P.M_

"What the fuck is happening?! Turn it off! This is not good...!"

The technical staff pounded the screen in frustration.

"It's no good, sir! We can't stop the broadcast without shutting the station down,"said one.

"Do it! Shut the damned thing off, we can't afford this. How many of our channels have sprung this broadcast?"

"We don't know unless we flip the channels on our own T.V's. We just can't shut this off to see!"

The boss swore again and took out his phone and went on the internet. He tuned in to certain T.V channels that could be interrupted for important broadcasts. This had been implemented because of all the terrorism in Area 11, so that messages from Charles or important figures could be shown immediately. Since Britannia owned more than half of the world thanks to Prince Schneizel's EU conquering campaign, the entire world could get broadcasts fixed for every language.

All of those channels had been taken over.

And the only way it possibly could have happened was if someone on the inside fixed the broadcasts, and accomplices around the world are maintaining it.

"Shut EVERYTHING down. I want to find the bastards responsible for this. Place a direct call to Pendragon! We've got a whole mess to clean up."

-------

_Chinese Federation. Forbidden City Outskirts. __Zhou Xianglin's van. 7:25 P.M_

Xianglin's talent was astounding. She supposed that she had to give some credit to Diethard Reid, who aided her in setting up men around the world to maintain the broadcast. The T.V station's 'Royal' Message line had been intercepted on every channel controlled by Britannia. She could hardly contain herself. Everyone in the _world _was watching from the cameras she and Xingke had stationed all over the cliffs and treetops. She proceeded to switch between the World Map screen to a riot in Area 11, to a strike against a Britannian industry in former Boston, back to the Burai who were engaged in battle with Chinese tanks and aircraft, as the Knightmare facilities were destroyed and the Chinese had centered their defense on the SAM sites on their perimeter and the Knightmares in reserve. Reinforcements could not arrive without the span of an hour at the very least.

Back in Japan, Diethard started his voice-over. He was taking the precaution of a voice mask so he could not be matched into a voice recognition system.

"People of our great planet, I weep for the state of the world. This is not Zero. Zero has been defeated by Britannia and has become a broken man. We entrusted him with the world," Diethard paused to allow Xianglin to change the screen to another batch of revolutionary men and women fighting back in some distant area,"We were wrong to give him such worship. We should have fought with him, but we sat and pursed our lips to our devilish oppressors and hoped he could the change the world for us. I hereby issue a Call of Arms to the entire world! Russia, American, Spain, France, and all our once proud nations have been overrun by Britannian greed. Gather your weapons, words, knives, guns, and knightmares. Fight back, my fellow humans and brothers, friends and comrades! We will become an allied nation of revolutionaries, the only requirement to enter our precious new world is to break away from Britannia!"

Diethard stopped the recording on the microphone to massage his throat.

"Did I sound a bit overdramatic?"

"No, no, you sounded fine. Like a real insane terrorist."

"Hmph, I think I did well, except for the fact that no normal person would pick up a knife and start killing a Britannian. It was also a splendid idea to place those fake battle markers, I must admit."

Zhou smiled as she switched the screen back to the Chinese Federation and said, "If I had not placed those fake markers, all I would have to show on the screen was an isolated attack by two psychotic men on a place most don't even know exist."

-----------

_Russia. Moscow outskirts. Area 23. 7:40 P.M_

"Finally, our friends overseas are doing something right..."

Sergei nodded. Though it had been a long time since the Cold War, tension still ran high, even as Britannia possesed both America and Russia. The screen had switched back to the world map, and there were battle markers placed in America and several other parts of the world now.

Andrei shot a grin at Sergei. The two men shook hands and cotinued to run to the warehouse that their repaired Sutherlands were. There was a man on a computer already there. He was an Eleven, sent by the contact who'd delivered and repaired the Sutherlands.

"Well, my _comrade_, it's time we payed our friend back for the Knightmares,"said Andrei, putting down his portable television on which they'd watched the event. Amazingly, impossibly, the signal was clear on the abused set and they saw their cue (the man doing the voiceover had said after hearing the word 'comrade', they would mobilize and be added to the battle marker set as one of the few genuine rebels). The man on the computer would then sent a signal to Xianglin to begin recording on the Moscow 'rebellion'. The Sutherlands had been given a gray coating and the Russian Flag so they wouldn't be mistaken as renegade Britannians.

Sergei smiled. The use of the word 'comrade' was a bit outdated. Their poor Mother Russia had fallen to Britannia, but not without losing its bravest sons and daughters. The two men embraced one last time, knowing that they were not important men in the revolution, they were merely soldier zealots who would die just to show the world that they tried. They were ok with that, their sacrifice would not be in vain.

-------

_Ashford Academy, Lelouch's Room. 7:50 P.M_

"Rolo...yes...a Vincent? You can't leave Area 11, can you? Pull handles and watch...take care," Lelouch hung up the phone and cursed.

Kallen watched the screen in horror. The world was being spurred on indirectly by the actions of the Black Knights. Revolution was happening, and all hell was breaking loose.

"Rolo says they're taking him overseas to fight in the Chinese Federation. The Vincent is moving at top speed with a Float Unit, but he probably won't make it there in time until these men have their way."

"Unbelievable..."murmered Kallen,"what did you mean by 'pull handles'?"

"On his Vincent, the handles to move the machine back in battle. We agreed beforehand that I would give him a random instruction on the phone to find my order in the Vincent's cockpit, while the Knightmare was immobilized. He'll see the instruction on a small phone I just texted. 'Do not harm the Black Knights once you arrive.' "

Kallen shivered. The thought that the world was destroying itself was stifling, especially since she'd been a revolutionary in all of it.

"Shouldn't we move out? Find a safe spot?"

Lelouch shook his head,"We can't leave without C.C. Curse her for leaving when we actually need her!"

--------

_The Chinese Federation. Forbidden City. 7:55 P.M_

"Watch your six, Toudou!"

"Damn it!"

Toudou barely dodged the RPG missile fired from a rooftop. Shogo fired on the man, and since the bullet was as big as him, that was the end of that.

Shogo shrieked into his 3-way channel,"Xingke! Where's this Knightmare you promised...!"

"It's taking me longer to bypass the guards than I-,"Xingke paused to fire a round into a guard's head while ambidextrously stabbing his chest with a sword,"-than I thought. I'm in the hangar building now, just hang on a little longer..."

"Toudou, I think this fuck's trying to get us killed."

Toudou ignored Shogo and fired onto a set of apartment buildings. Woman and children were ripped apart and sent plummetting through their deaths. He enjoyed it.

Shogo scanned the area for further opposition. Gun turrets, men with bazooka's, tanks, even the few Gun-Ru that escaped from Xingke's explosives, they all fell to the might of the Knightmare, even the relatively weak Burai. Shogo was glad that the Chinese Federation didn't emphasize military power in the Forbidden City.

Meanwhile, Xingke had reached the ShenHu's private hangar bay. With a sudden realization dawning on him, he dashed in and scanned the bay for personell trying to take the ShenHu to battle the Burai. Xingke saw a fat man, probably the supervisor who'd known the code for the private hangar, was dashing towards the Knightmare. Everything fell apart if the man reached the experimental knightmare. If the ShenHu overpowered the Burai in a public broadcast, it would only demonstrate the might of the alliance (since ShenHu was a product of Britannian and Chinese combined funding and engineering).

Xingke fired on the man as he reached the stairs that would take him to ShenHu's cockpit. The bullets harmlessly impacted the steel, and the man, instead of being daunted to fall back, pressed forward even faster, adrenaline overpowering his body.

Xingke cursed and dashed to the staircase. The rather obese man noticed the banging of foot against metal from below and dug into his pockets for the card key to open the Knightmare. Unfortunately, the last mistake of his life was fumbling with and dropping the card all the way to the floor of the hangar. Xingke reached him and mercilessly sliced off his head.

Quickly, he pushed the body off of the control panel where it was slumped and stuck his own key card into the bloody recognition slide. The button next to it turned green (although it looked rather red at that point) and the cockpit opened. Since the ShenHu was experimental, only Xingke (the pilot), the Eunuch General Huang Qian, and the man Xingke had just killed had access to the machine. Other Knightmares opened to a code panel on the chestplate and became operational with an activation key.

Xingke took the familiar controls and inputed a command to open the hangar's large industrial style door. It slid away instantly, and the ShenHu launched.

---------------

_Secret Ops Surveillance Center. 8:00 P.M_

Viletta smiled to herself. She'd just gotten the message that Lelouch would be captured. Serves him right for blackmailing her with his knowledge of the embarrassing relationship between her and Kaname Ohgi.

She could have warned him of his impending doom, but decided against it. It wasn't as if, when he was being taken away by Britannian soldiers, he could just scream,"My P.E teacher Viletta Nu was a lover of an Eleven!" and save himself. How beautiful it would be to get rid of Lelouch.

'Goodbye...Zero.'

-----------------


	16. The Hunted

**Nothing Left - Ch.16**

**Author's Note: What kind of Author's note is this?**

**P.S: I AM SORRY FOR ANY OFFENSE OF ANY RELIGIOUS GROUP, PARTY, OR PEOPLES. **

**P.S.S:....REVIEW!**

**-------------**

_Ashford Academy. Campus Grounds. 8:20 P.M_

There had been no warning at all. As quickly as the broadcast had ripped apart the world, three Knights of Round had descended upon Ashford. Tristan, Mordred, and Galahad had surrounded the school building. When Lelouch had checked to see what the noise was, his heart literally skipped a beat. Dreamily, he closed the curtain, grabbed Kallen, and ran right out the door.

"Lelouch...!" Kallen gasped.

Lelouch's sharp mind refused to believe what he saw, even as he analyzed it. It was extremely unlikely that three Knights of Round had been sent to protect Ashford Academy from revolutionaries from the ghettos. Lelouch was lucky that the Knights had assumed that he lived in the school building rather than the clubhouse.

'Where should I go? What should I do? I can't let them harm Kallen on account of me any longer...'

That's when Lelouch realized that noone cared that Kallen existed. If he could just hide her somewhere, perhaps she could escape. The Knights would take Lelouch and leave. Kallen would never agree to it though, even in her weakened state. While it was true she could walk easily enough, it was a question of whether or not she could run fast enough to catch Lelouch. Not that Lelouch could run very far, but it seemed the strain on Kallen running right now was all she could take.

'Think...damnit!'

He could have taken her to Milly who lived on school grounds, and she was in a private building away from the school...but that meant trusting her with a missing woman, and there would be no Geass to shut her up because of that goddamned prank. The rest of his friends were shut in the school, probably fearing for their lives.

"Lelouch..." Kallen panted. Lelouch noticed she was holding onto one of her legs as she ran. Her pain must have been worse than he'd thought.

"Just hold on Kallen...please."

Lelouch was at the campus gate by this point, and thought he would be home-free if he could just find a sucker on the street that he could geass to take Kallen and run. Of course, he wasn't so selfless that he didn't consider his own survival as well. The ghetto was his best bet, but without the mask of Zero, he'd be little more than a Britannian snob who wanted to see what the degenerate Elevens were like at nighttime. Besides, he just didn't have the stamina or the speed to make it that far. Ashford Academy was well away from the wild 'apemen' that once owned the land.

He glanced back at the knightmares. Tristan was moving to cover the whole perimeter from the sky, no doubt equipped with the thermal vision to do so. Mordred scanned the area with it's Hadron Cannons out, supposedly to lock onto Lelouch's biological signature. Fortunately, Anya was scanning the wrong way, into the forest. Galahad was rooted to the ground, devoid of life. Bismarck was probably inquiring to the baffled headmaster about the whereabouts of Lelouch 'Lamperouge'.

The gate was locked, but a well-known secret of the student council was that there was a grassy knoll covered by trees with no fence covering it from the street. Lelouch led Kallen in first through the low branches and follwed after another nervous look at the Knightmares. By now, they'd be realizing how badly of a screwup their mission was. Given that Lelouch wasn't in the regular sleeping quarters, (which for some reason, Viletta Nu had neglected to tell them), they should have discreetly walked themselves in and asked the headmaster first.

Meanwhile, Gino Weinburg was contemplating his prey. This student was Zero all right, and his head was set to become the Emperor's brand new ash tray. Gino had been utterly shocked when he'd been bested by a few meager Gekka back at BSR #12, and he had truly feared for his life. Being helpless was truly a first for him. However, Zero had let him go. There had been time to destroy Tristan easily, and, with his computer's advanced communication hacking, he'd heard Zero flatly tell his men to let the knights live. He started to doubt the intentions of his opponent. It just wasn't Zero's style to pass up an opportunity, and it sure as hell wasn't Zero's style to sound happy giving the command after many of his Burai had been decimated. Anya would follow orders, Gino, however, sought answers. He'd seen Lancelot and the Guren destroyed before his eyes, but hadn't seen much after that because of the strain on keeping his energy filler up while the Gefjun net destroyed his system. He'd had to shut down his sights to preserve his float unit, or else his expensive machine would drop like a rag doll. Suzaku Kururugi went missing for days, his funeral came and went quickly, but then he pops up again in a wheelchair, stating that he's fine.

What truly shocked Gino the most and broke his very foundations of belief was that Suzaku Kururugi had personally asked him minutes ago to spare Zero if in any way, he could. Maybe it was just him seriously misjudging people, but Gino was pretty sure that wasn't _Suzaku's_ style.

What he'd been partially fearing since was finding the running figure guiding another on his thermal. Definetly Zero guiding what looked to be the red-head that was always by his side in her knight uniform, and confirmed to be the former pilot of Guren. Now Gino had to make that dreaded decision. Spare Zero and his number 2, or apprehend them like the good hunting dog he was.

---------------

_Area 11. Ghetto area. Apartment Complex. Diethard's room._

Things were going perfectly. Diethard could die a happy man now, he'd finally found excitment and shared it with the world. Of course, he wasn't really going to die. Diethard made sure to cover his ass before even thinking to set up the broadcast. His men in the station would keep the signal up as long as they were able to. Surprisingly, genuine rebels were rising far faster than anyone had expected. Warring African tribes joined together, the people of the Middle East who'd fought against each other for centuries over religious differences were forming an impromptu alliance, and Honorary Britannians who'd reached respectable positions were even joining in the fight.

Diethard's cell phone rang just then, breaking him out of his reverie.

At first, he'd thought his part in all of this was over. He'd thought everything had been planned to perfection and allowed no room for flaws. That mindset ended the moment he answered the phone and heard the voice on the other end.

His heart skipped a beat and his amused grin turned into a horrified gape. How the _hell_...

...had Suzaku Kururugi gotten this number?

---------

_The Chinese Federation. Forbidden City. 8:25 P.M_

The reinforcements had turned out to need reinforcements once ShenHu was through with them. Aircraft, motorized regiments consisting of tanks and cars, Gun-Ru, even swarms of Gang Lou failed to stop the experimental frame. Rakshata had truly outdone herself with the Baryon cannons on ShenHu, it was really too bad she had lost it to the enemy.

The battlefield, once called the mighty 'Forbidden' City, was quiet then. Loyal chinese militia had fallen back to regroup around the Eunuch Generals, and the smart chinese militia had gone A.W.O.L.

By that point, the Eunuch Generals weren't afraid of bad publicity as they had before, they were actually facing a real life or death situation. They could actually watch as ShenHu approached them flanked by two war-torn Burai. There was simply no escape for the Eunuch's by that point.

The grand palace of the Eunuch's, though technologically advanced, still appeared the old style kind of the Chinese. Actually, it was technically Tianzi's palace, but noone cared for the little details. The Eunuch's were facing a giant window that overlooked the Forbidden City, Tianzi directly in front of them. She was the bargaining chip.

ShenHu suddenly bursted closer to the palace, surprising the Eunuch's as it became enormous and the glass was unable to contain its monstrous figure any longer. The window shattered and Xingke leapt out of the cockpit, rolling onto the ground as if an action hero and immediately shooting Eunuch's Zhao Hao and Cheng Zong in their heads.

Now only 5 Eunuch's stood, looking in awe and horror at the man before them, blood spattered on his uniform and the handle of a sword held in his mouth as if to emphasize his viciousness. Xingke unceremoniously spat out the sword into his hand and brought his pistol up.

"Hand her over."

Huang Qian snapped out of his terrified trance faster than his colleagues and grabbed Tianzi. He obviously had intented to bargain for her like the smooth political swine he was, but unfortunately for him, the hostile and sudden movement towards the empress prompted Xingke to shoot him in the head.

Huang slumped over on Tianzi, scaring the little girl out of her wits as blood trickled onto her shoulder. She cringed and fell under his lifeless weight. Xingke was instantly by her side, kicking off the Eunuch and ensuring Tianzi was not harmed while keeping his eyes on the remaning four.

"What is the meaning of all this?" Cai Lishi demanded.

"Apologies, but this is a coup d'état,"said Xingke, pronouncing it perfectly.

"B-but _she_ is the lord! If this were a coup-"

"I have no time to waste with you."

Cai Lishi's (dress?) suddenly bloomed a crimson rose as his heart was punctured by a bullet. Xingke made sure Tianzi wasn't looking when he emptied his gun against the remaining Eunuch's.

---------

_Area 11. The Park. 8:40 P.M_

It was amazing, Lelouch thought, that there was such a thing as an escape from the Knights of Round without a drop of blood involved. Sayoko had met up with them at the park near Ashford Academy. All it had took to take her out of hiding (which meant she'd taken another job as a maid elsewhere) was a simple phone call. Truly, she was a loyal if not foolish woman. Though the situation was dire and time was short, Lelouch took a brief moment to wonder to himself why Sayoko bothered to keep the maid hat on.

"Sayoko, can you get Kallen to a safe place?"

"I'd rather get both of you at a safe place, but if it's really down to that, then yes."

Kallen pulled her hand away from Lelouch and ignored the dull pain that coursed through her muscles in a fake show of strength. All of a sudden, the Red Lotus a.k.a Q-1 a.k.a Captain of Squad Zero was reduced to the Damosel in Distress? That did not suit her, not at all.

Lelouch wasn't fooled by the show, and, in some way, he felt stupid for not considering her pride in the matter. Karen Kōzuki wouldn't just run away to save herself. Hell, she was used to the role as the distraction for people to run away and save _themselves._

"Kallen, there's no time to argue. They could find us any minute. The only reasonable choice would be to escape with Sayoko, since I am not nearly as efficient as her as a bodyguard."

"What I don't get is why we both don't go with her..."

In response, Sayoko lifted Kallen up and slung her over her shoulder as if she was a rag doll. Kallen blushed red from the implications of it, but forced herself to stop and remember their current situation. Sayoko let Kallen down after she'd made her point by demonstrating her abnormal level of strength.

"Damnit Lelouch, don't play the hero all of a sudden!"

----------

_Area 11. (Near) The Park. 8:45 P.M_

Gino had been a model knight. Dutiful, proud, great to get along with, and most of all, dangerous. Behind his cheerfulness was a vicious mind, almost sadistic in its ideals. Killing Elevens didn't matter, killing Britannians was a huge deal. Because of that, he was also a model citizen of Britannia. Now he felt dirty, unclean, as if he'd just ended his life. Why had he let them go? Was it because the almighty Zero was guiding a helpless girl to safety? Was it because Suzaku had asked him to? That didn't matter.

What did matter was that he knew where they'd ran off to, and, on second glance, a third reading came up on his monitor. He silently begged them to just leave so he wouldn't have to grapple with his conscience any longer. What the hell was taking them so long?

----

_Area 11. The Park. 8:50_

Hell, Lelouch cared about Kallen more than enough to give up his life for hers, but he wasn't stupid enough to throw it away unnecessarily. They were soon running past the grass, the fountain, and the very bench Kallen had (first) smacked Lelouch at, back when Zero was still struggling to gain ground as a major power and Lelouch had to conceal himself. Sayoko jogged slowly, helping Kallen whenever she had difficulty, and at one point practically carrying Lelouch when he got tired. Eventually, they reached the outer portion of the ruined Shinjuku ghetto.

Lelouch was trying not to fall over in his desperate attempt for air by that point, only restraining himself from doing so at the thought of how severe their situation was. He leaned on some debris that hadn't been cleaned up since the incident over a year ago. Shinjuku was, in all meaning of the word, a ghetto. Elevens used whatever still had foundation to the ground as a home, they used what little money they could find on drugs, and they used nothing for their self-worth. Britannian students would sometimes drive out here to bully Elevens, even to take some change from them only to dump them into the sewer in front of their very eyes. Lelouch had seen that exact thing actually happen, and didn't even care to use his geass to teach the Britannians (his own classmates!) a lesson.

Sure they'd put some distance between the Knights of Round and themselves, but if Charles Zi Britannia was desperate enough to unleash his hounds on Lelouch, then Lelouch could bet his ass they'd hunt him down to the ends of the Earth.

Suddenly, Lelouch felt something hard smashing into his spine. He gasped and fell, Sayoko and Kallen screaming something at him while he felt the world go black...

Lelouch's eyes rolled to the back of his head when the man behind him knocked him out from a pressure point on his neck. It was a black ops reconnaissance soldier of the Britannian army, resembling Suzaku when he was a soldier. Only this man was more skilled and trained to be more than reconnaissance in war times. All in all, this was a veteran stealth soldier that could act as a point man in hostile situations, a negotiator for hostages, even a medic if need be.

But he had a minor flaw. His hand to hand skills were limited to stealth, that is, knowledge of the basic biology of a human being enough to recognize the arteries that could incapacitate a man through a slight squeeze, called a 'pressure point'. His skills with silenced automatics and rifles were up to par, which he demonstrated by taking out his sniper (which was all he had on him at the moment) and ordering the two women before him to stand down. Sayoko was tough, but she couldn't take a bullet. She was powerless in this situation unless the super soldier before her made a bad move.

And that he did. He was looking over Sayoko suspiciously, using his surveyance skills to check every part of her body (for weapons of course), all the while yelling at her to put her hands on top of her head. He looked down at her legs, covered by the white skirt. He could see a dim trace of what looked to be a knife on both her left and right leg. Congratulating himself for identifying the threat this woman posed, he brought up his rifle to shoot her. His orders had been to bring the boy back alive after all. However, he realized that the other woman could have been concealing a weapon as well. If he shot one, the other might have a chance to leap up and stab him. That fear gripped him as he surveyed Kallen's body as well. Sayoko saw the opening, took one of the knives out of its strap, and approached the man in a mad dash.

The soldier focused the gun on her in a panic, but Sayoko cleverly confused him by throwing a knife at him. As expected, the soldier dodged, and the bullet went wild. Sayoko's other knife jumped into her hand in the next second and she grabbed hold of the man's head, moving it up so that the neck was exposed under his helmet. In a show of futility, he tried to struggle away, but Sayoko gripped his head firmly and sliced his throat open with the other hand. She let the man fall quickly, before she got any blood on herself, and then replaced the knife on the strap it had been securely fastened to.

Kallen had been amazed by the whole spectacle, but the second Sayoko was finished, she painfully dashed to Lelouch's side. Sayoko understood her concern, but knew Lelouch's pressure point hadn't been squeezed hard enough to do any real damage. Out of nowhere, sirens came from the distance and the wailing of Eleven women and children came next. After that, the wailing of the Eleven women and children were silenced by bullets.

Kallen breifly wondered why the police would be stupid enough to announce their presence before getting a headstart into the trees, knowing Sayoko would follow with Lelouch in hand. Clearly, they had no plan of refuge anymore. Initially, it seemed that they would geass Elevens into giving up shelter, but now Lelouch was unconscious and the Britannians had proved that they didn't give a damn about shooting Elevens for their quarry. The forest would be temporary, and the Britannians would instantly check it out, knowing the hardest place to search is the easiest place to hide.

And so they ran, away from the screaming of children, the sirens of malevolent men, and the chaos that those men had caused.


	17. The Cold

**Nothing Left - Ch.17**

**Author's Note: My own character created in this story makes a reappearance in this chapter (he's been in it two times before), keep your eyes peeled.**

**READ!: Two reviews is all I got for this chapter. If you read this story, please be courteous enough to leave a review. It makes me write faster. Like right now, I dont feel like writing...so please leave a review.**

**REVIEW!**

**----**

_The Avalon. 9:09 P.M_

Suzaku made his way through the halls. The Avalon had initially come to Area 11 to offload the four Knights of Round, but Suzaku had stayed behind with the excuse that the Lancelot had a launching glitch that needed to be fixed by Lloyd. The truth of the matter was that he had ordered the Avalon straight back to Pendragon on his own authority, which was a clear violation of the emperor's order.

Suzaku took a moment to marvel at how his call to Diethard had gone so smoothly. If all went according to schedule, and Diethard didn't double-cross him, Suzaku's plan would work. If he lost his life in the process...then so be it.

Now if Lelouch would just get himself caught, everything would fall into place...

_---_

_Area 11. Forest outside Shinjuko. 9:10 P.M_

As soon as Suzaku had finished that thought, Lelouch began to stir. Immediately after he regained consciousness, he groaned as pain surged through his spine. It didn't help that he was being flung around like a rag doll by Sayoko as she ran with him draped over her shoulder. Sayoko heard him and stopped, perspiration shining on her face. Even she had her limits.

"Lelouch, are you okay?" asked Kallen once she heard the moan.

Sayoko put Lelouch down and he struggled to keep his footing. He dully tried to remember what had happened, but before he could go any further than recalling his name, a red-head figure was shaking him out of his reverie.

"Are. You. Okay?" she repeated.

Finally, Lelouch snapped out of his daze and surveyed his surroundings. Then his knees buckled and Sayoko had to hold him from falling on top of Kallen.

"What hit me?" said Lelouch as soon as he could stand by himself.

"Britannia, what else?"

-------------

_Area 6. Columbia. A Nameless Forest. 9:15 P.M_

Tauro was, first and foremost, a warrior. His father had died battling Britannia, and so had his cousins and nephews. His skills with a rifle and, later, an old American FIM-92 Stinger missile earned him respect among his scattered guerilla forces. He was the best kind of soldier. Dedicated, vengeful, bloodthirsty, calculating, and courageous. So much so that he became the leader after many years.

There had been numerous things in his life that were common to his country even after Britannia imperialised them. Actually, the poverty, joblessness, starvation, and disease had spread even more once Britannia "relocated" the people to a remote place away from the new capitol and command center of Columbia.

His goal was simple...to kill as many people as he could. Terrorism was something he wholy accepted, he was not one to justify his actions. He'd stopped being a hero when he'd ripped apart a twenty year-old soldier limb from limb and paraded his head around for all to see. He was an avenger.

His story was not uncommon among the resistance, but thanks to his natural physique and strong stomach for unseemly acts, he became leader of a band of guerillas that soldiers stationed in Columbia feared. Patrols and even locals who'd been at the wrong place or serving the wrong man met their gruesome deaths.

This was his story, and it, like his short-lived rebellion, was at its end.

He ran into the brush with a few men behind him. They'd had but one Knightmare delivered by a gracious benefactor in Area 11, but it had been destroyed due to the cowardice of the Japanese pilot which had been sent with it. A few missiles and the fool had ejected, only to find that he'd ejected directly into enemy lines and straight to his death. That and many other failed attempts at breaking the line defined the first hour of the battle, the second hour had been the realization that nothing Tauro could do now would save them. His men dropped like flies, armed with outdated AK-47's and RPG's, which were obtained before Tauro was born, it seemed.

A tree ignited and exploded in front of them as a Britannian tank fired a round into the trees. The shrapnel of splintered wood and metal struck one man who'd run in front of Tauro, heedless of the risk. Tauro grabbed the man's missile pack and kept running, two more men at his heels. He had a chance...he could live and fight another day...

The Britannians aiming at them, however, had other ideas. The tank was reloading automatically, but the gunner opened up the turret capable of firing 100 armor piercing rounds a second and let loose on the runners. A satisfying yelp met his ears as the lead man fell. He focused on the other two and squeezed off a few more shots, making four kills in less than 30 seconds. Not bad for a promotion, the gunner thought.

And that was the first rebellion that had failed.

---------

_North Pacific Ocean. 9:20 P.M_

The Empress, Xingke saw, was still trying to rub the blood off of her hands. Perhaps if Xingke had been a bit more careful about dispatching the Eunuch's, she wouldn't have gotten a spray of crimson off of a stubborn General who Xingke had had to finish off with his sword.

They were flying back to Japan using their Knightmare's float units. The Burai had initially exhausted their energy fillers, but they were able to rip off some from fallen Gang-Lou. The Chinese energy fillers, amazingly, were not too different from the Japanese ones despite the fact that both had researched Project Knightmare seperately. Even more amazingly, they'd actually pulled off destroying the Chinese Federation's government with three Knightmare, something, mused Xingke, that Zero probably couldn't have dreamed of doing.

Toudou and Shogo were spread two miles to the left and the right of the ShenHu, the reason being so that they could all detect incoming enemy personnel more efficiently. Xingke had absolutely insisted that Tianzi accompany him, even though the Burai's cockpit was somewhat spacier than ShenHu's. Because of that, Tianzi ended up sitting in Xingke's lap, and though it was comforting to know she was in his care, the position was quite uncomfortable. In truth, Xingke hadn't thought of this part all that well. He'd gotten Tianzi, and though that was an achievment in itself, he could do nothing else now. What Xingke had just done was introduce Tianzi to a world on the verge of all-out war, all because he needed a distraction. Inexplicably, the night mocked Xingke by imitating his confused emotions. Though they were barely discernible because of the absence of the moon, dark clouds began to form.

His phone rang, shocking him and eliciting a short squeal from Tianzi. Xingke answered, not bothering to check the I.D.

"We need you back here, _now._," ordered the voice of Diethard.

"'Back here?' I was never there in the first place my friend, I assume you mean the gentlemen on either side of me?"

"This is no time for that! Full speed, forget the patrols out at sea."

"I'll make this clear, I am not part of your war."

"Ah, but who'll take care of the Empress when you cannot?" said Diethard. "Your illness does not seem to be improving, as I recall."

"Zhou Xianglin, i've already made arrangements."

"Fool, you need to end this with the death of the emperor."

Of course, Xingke already knew that. He was trying to make a better deal with Diethard and his underlings. He would not throw Tianzi into the care of a lone person, even a person he called his close friend. Xianglin was clever, but not powerful. She could not even defend herself, let alone defend a living target that called itself Empress. Xingke knew that Tianzi's fate lay in the success of the revolution. It may not be this night, that was also rather clear, but it would be one day, and when that day came it would be the Elevens who'd served under Zero and Xingke himself leading the charge.

Diethard slammed the table back in Area 11, he had no time for Xingke's games. He knew he was losing it, but he'd just set up an event so outrageous it would make Zero's first public appearance look like a cheap parade (what with the van and the crowds that surrounded it).

"What is it you want?" Diethard relented.

"A definite protection for the Empress. I want it to be monitored by Xianglin and the two men with me now."

"You trust them enough to allow it?"

"I don't have many friends, as you might have been able to conclude on your own."

"Very well, just get here as fast as possible, the rendezvous point is a dock for fishing vessels, i'll send the position now."

Xingke muttered something about incompetence before breaking contact. Diethard took a few deep breaths to calm himself before he picked up the apartment's unsecure phone.

"Hello? Britannian police? I've detected three fast moving...uhh...blips in the East Sea near Japan, close to China. Where am I? A fishing ship with my own personal radar system. According to my calculations -i'm an oceanographer, you see-, it's too slow for a plane and its too big to be a vessel, and it's actually a bit fast for a ship. They're moving quite fast...my name? I would prefer not to release that information sir, I just thought you should know."

Diethard hung up. The Britannian Royal Navy was simply too busy monitoring rebellions on the coast and was spread too far away to discern a few Knightmare crossing the ocean. He'd just completed one of the first of the tasks set before him by an unlikely accomplice. He grabbed his keys, his hacking equipment, and his gun.

'It's gonna be one hell of a night.'

------

_Area 11. Forest outside Shinjuko. 10:00 P.M_

It was painfully obvious that they couldn't just keep running through a forest in the dark with trained Britannian soldiers stalking them. As if to kill the idea that 'It could be worse', a heavy downpour of rain began. Either a storm front had descended on them or the tears of the miserable, the dead, and the dying of the night had.

The threesome had been blindly picking their way through the forest in an effort to make a round trip to a 'safe' zone away from Britannian interference. Along the way, Sayoko had cut down two men who'd most likely reported their findings before attempting capture of the fragile looking group. It was really too bad none of them had thought to overestimate what Sayoko could do. By this point, however, Sayoko's stamina had been so depleted she looked like Lelouch in gym class.

'I should have hung on to my gun...' lamented the prince.

Even with Sayoko and Lelouch struggling to continue, Kallen was clearly the most drained. She shook like the very leaves of the forest they were practically crawling through. She felt like hell, but knew it was not so since hell had to be a lot warmer than this.

Without thinking of how utterly foolish it was to be a gentleman in this kind of situation, Lelouch took off his shirt and placed it on Kallen, leaving him in a soaked and black sleeveless undergarment. Though the shirt he'd just taken off was also soaked, it was better having it to cover Kallen than leaving her in the rather skimpy, casual clothes she was fond of wearing. Remarkably, Kallen accepted it without a fight, probably too cold to argue.

A couple of minutes later, he felt himself go numb as the winds and the icy rain picked up, freezing the nerves on his skin into submission. One part of him was glad he didn't have to feel anything anymore, the other part was the smart part saying he would die if he didn't take his clothes off and get to a warm place. Vaguely, he wondered why they hadn't stripped the nice warm armor off the soldiers they'd killed, which only succeeded in drawing out a moan from him.

Lelouch sighed and straightened his back, eliciting a popping sound that alleviated some tension. That single movement saved his life.

The sniper cursed and refocused his gun on the prince. He had been aiming for the path the leg would cross so he could incapacitate him. Unfortunately, Lelouch had paused for a moment and the bullet had just missed. On top of that, the sniper hadn't accounted for the wind effect, the shaking of his arm (he hadn't brought anything to level the rifle neatly), and the slight recoil of the shot, so it had actually gone higher than he had intented and could have been a headshot if Lelouch hadn't paused. The sound of the rain pattering on the ground masked the sound of the rifle, and the bullet had slowed and bounced off a far away tree, not doing much damage and not at all tipping off the trio.

He stood up from the bush he'd crawled into and found he had been camouflaged by the mud and the leaves. He was the perfect image of a hunter...he could become one by biding his time and waiting for the right moment. He could get his reputation back in one fell swoop.

But not now, later. He could not let the emperor's prize be killed, and shooting was just too risky, despite the precision sniping of the new model.

Simon Cutting didn't know why, but he despised Lelouch Lamperouge. Just looking at the man made his blood boil (which was fairly fortunate for him in this kind of weather). Perhaps in that little corner of his mind, he remembered it was a boy much like this one that had visited Simon that fateful day at the warehouse. Or perhaps he just hated brats who wouldn't sit still to be shot.

------------


	18. The Futility

**Nothing Left - Ch.18**

**Author's Note: Please Review. Please Review. I said it twice, will I get double the reviews? We'll see.**

**P.S. Yes I know Kallen is half-half, but I just called her Eleven because she thinks of herself as one.**

**----**

_Shrine of Akasha. 10:10 P.M_

"Looks like the governers are more interested in protecting themselves than following your orders, Charles."

"I know it's only a matter of time, but patience is wearing thin on me. The Knights should have been more careful about capturing Lelouch."

V.V smiled. "Tsk, tsk, all those tax dollars you extorted to make those knightmares and nothing to show for it?"

Charles looked at C.C, her eyes blank and emotions unreadable. It was as if she was the same stoic woman snuggling her doll and standing next to Lord Zero. Charles Zi Britannia knew much better than to assume that she didn't care. He knew that conflict was raging inside of C.C. Raging, but losing.

She could do nothing but stand there and wait to sacrifice her code at this point. She knew that Lelouch would have a choice when he was captured and brought here, but the option to live was not likely to be the one he'd chose. He was simply too emotional a person to give in to his father.

Lelouch would die here, and the world would be better off because of it. C.C would get her wish, and Charles can fix the world to his liking. The final deciding factor in whether or not the world would be reborn was a very cold and scared Britannian running with two Elevens through some god-forsaken forest.

--------------

_Area 11. Forest outside Shinjuku. 10:20_

The only way to describe what they'd just found would be the ultimate cliché. Rainy night, muddy forest, and a conveniently located cave in a hidden mound of rock in the midst of it.

But wait, the cliché didn't end there, because right inside the cave were piles of dry wood that had been blown there by the day's wind. There was a complete roof, and compared to the alternative, camping here was like a day at an overpriced Britannian spa. A thunderous roar sounding through the night and a flash of lightning lit up the dark cave for a moment. A major storm front had blown into Japan.

All three of them were sopping wet. Sayoko attempted to start up a fire from the conveniently placed wood, but her hands were shaking so badly she had to rest constantly. Finally, she was able to steady her knife so she could whittle the wood properly. Once that was done and a small circle had been cut into the flat board, Sayoko took a stick and tried to get enough friction for a spark. Kallen noticed that she was getting tired and took over, remembering what Naoto had taught her when they'd gone camping together. At last, a tiny spark ignited but was put out by the combination of wind blowing in and Kallen's wet fingers. She tried again and didn't pause once, even as her newly healed arms begged her to rest. The spark came back and became stronger, and Kallen blew on it when she felt it wouldn't go out like a candle. She moved the two pieces of wood into a pre-set pyre and a small fire was born. Gratefully, Sayoko and Lelouch swarmed it while Kallen shook off the numbness in her hands. When all that was done, Kallen finally suggested that they take off their clothes, just before Lelouch could do it. He'd been holding off on it as not to sound perverted. Each of them struggled with the heavy and damp cloth until it fell off to a pile on the floor. Kallen and Sayoko kept their revealing underwear (including the bra) on, but Lelouch took off his undershirt and was left in nothing but his boxers. Usually, the rule to take off your clothes applied if your rescued from a freezing sea, but it was just so refreshing to not have to feel the fabric rubbing onto your bare skin anymore. They set the clothes next to the fire so they would dry too, and with that, there was simply nothing else they could do but catch their breath and try to warm up.

Lelouch, as always, analyzed the terrain around him.

'We should have set the fire further into the cave...' he realized, since the fire was like a flare being so close to the mouth of the cave. Not that it a was very deep cave, in fact, it was a geographic miracle for half of the cliff they were lodged in to have such a spacious cave that didn't topple over sooner. Lelouch shuddered at the thought, now wondering if any underground rivers or pipelines would be a problem, but he figured that one night in the cave wasn't enough to cause any serious problems.

His mind slowly wandered off of that, but he had to find something else to occupy him from two other...no...four other points of interest.

-_Outside the Cave_-

Simon grinned. He got a promotion and a show. If only he were in Lelouch's position...and he was 30 years younger.

'I can practically see their...' the thought distracted him and he momentarily forgot he was supposed to aim the sniper rifle at the girls heads, not scope their wet...bosoms.

An athletic man in his early fifthies, he just barely fit into the special ops regiment under Lord Waldstein's direct command. He served Britannia in his youth when his family was poor and grew a nationalism worthy of the late Jeremiah Gottwald in his time. His love for Britannia wasn't enough to keep him in the military, so he fell back and became a factory worker at the urging of his family after about 20 years. He made fair money, and found his skill for supervising when he was reassigned to a warehouse. He went back to sign up for the reserves so that he could keep the sense of pride he'd had in the military. Later, he was called upon and performed splendidly as a conscript soldier against a group of Elevens. Apparently, the action did not go unnoticed. When the processing warehouse was destroyed, Simon went back to the military and demonstrated his skills, so he was given a trial as security captain on Schneizel's craft. It wasn't as big a position as he'd hoped for, because the real security was the Knightmares, which obviously meant it was mainly just a position for show. He didn't have a clue his first day would be his last from that one little misjudgement. Finally, he found himself here by means of which he was not entirely certain. When he heard that three Knights of Round including his own Lord Waldstein had failed to locate Zero, Simon had been the first into the ghetto areas. He did get the official call to search, but he was already hot on Zero's tail by then. Three of his partners, however, had not concealed themselves as well as Simon had and were corpses taking on rain right now.

Simon aimed carefully at the one who'd just discarded a maid's costume. He was crouching next to a tree, his scope pointing out of a bush ever so slightly. He was about to pull the trigger when Lelouch shifted uncomfortably, halting him from the lethal shot. If Zero died, he could bet his ass he'd never work in Britannia again. They were sitting in a circle, Zero on the farthest side, the Ace of the Black Knights to his left (she was the closest from Simon's view), and the maid woman, who was sitting farther away from the others and facing the outside of the cave. As if she was on guard. Simon focused his scope one last time, leveled it, and fired.

He missed. Again.

'Fuck! Stay still so I can shoot you!' he thought. The maid woman had momentarily shifted her seating position so she could salvage something out of her clothes. Her head had moved ever so slightly.

The bullet quietly flew into the fire, only being noticed by Kallen, who yelled something at Sayoko. Cursing, Simon adjusted his sniper and aimed again, but Zero was one step ahead the very second Kallen shouted her warning. The clever bastard flung himself in front of both women, making either head an impossible shot. Simon grabbed his standard-issue sidearm, something that looked suspiciously like a USP.45 with a silencer equipped, and ran right out of the brush and into the mouth of the cave.

"Nobody move!" he demanded, his pistol darting wildly back and forth, looking for an opening to fire through. It was hopeless. He could accidently kill the boy, and what good would that do?

Lelouch was smart, but he was clearly out of his league with this one. Simon would just force his way through Lelouch and fire on the surplus bodies behind him, and then take the one prisoner he was ordered to take. Sayoko could not reach her knife without moving away from Lelouch's protection.

If ever the fallen prince needed a distraction, it was now...

-----

_10 minutes earlier. Cliff overlooking the Shinjuko ghetto._

"You really have to light up in here, Kayashi?" asked Kimura indignantly.

Kayashi blew some smoke into his friend's face, just to tick him off. He took out the cooler he'd brought with him and opened it. Kimura could never understand how the Japanese Liberation Front had accepted such a laid-back man. He also could never understand how he could stand sipping cheap (former) american beer with a cigarette in his mouth. Though smoking in a tank wasn't bad for the machinery, it was a bit suffocating for Kimura.

"I could be dead in a few minutes, indulge me."

Kimura sighed and readied his turret. In light of what they'd seen on television, the two men had solemnly agreed to bring out the tank. Kimura had thought it was all over, especially when the JLF was defeated. Though there were some things Kimura regretted more, he truly regretted walking out on the JLF in their time of need, back when the main headquarters had been assaulted in the mountains. Kimura and Kayashi had been posted to the far side of the mountain, along with two other men who helped operate the tank and flak gun attached to the roof. It was a crude, but devastating combination of anti-air and anti-ground, though the setback was that it was bulky, couldn't hold many rounds, and it needed a crew of five to be truly effective. Once it became clear Britannia would destroy them, and perhaps even the Black Knights would, they'd just rolled off the mountain and into cover. They'd hid the tank in an alcove of the very cliff they were on top of. It was a precarious spot, and it had required intense maneuvering on Kayashi's part. They didn't plan on bombing the Shinjuku settlement, but they intended to use the flak turret on top to engage any air forces passing over. Indeed, there were many of those. Kimura considered trying to aim the turret that fired bomb shells, but there was no way a shot could connect unless a foolish Knightmare got close enough to the front of the vehicle. Nevertheless, he prepared the shell and went topside, leaving Kayashi to take care of everything else.

Kimura took a deep breath of the cool night air and sighed. He shouldn't have come out here. He had a daughter, and he needed to be there for her. Not being a faceless freedom fighter for a revolution that probably wouldn't succeed. He manned the turret and waited for a target to pass by. Shinjuku was a swarm of activity, air units going and coming. Most were simply too far or too high to shoot, but there was a juicy target just begging for it. A Sutherland equipped with a float unit, going into the forest area. Kimura didn't know why the Britannian would go into the trees when the real battle was the opposite direction, but it didn't really matter much. He leveled the turret to face the slow moving target and let loose on him, surprising Kayashi and making him drop his beer. It turned out the flak gun was really more powerful than he'd thought, because compared to the old models that he'd actually seen tested, this one got the job done. He aimed carefully for the pilot's hatch and was satisfied to see it burst with flame, along with the Knightmare.

Kayashi whistled,"Nice...hit the Sakuradite good on that round eh?"

Kimura didn't have time to congratulate himself, because he'd just realized that the Sutherland was in a formation and his buddies were farther away. One of them came flying towards the duo. Kayashi fumbled with the main turret and fired, only to see the Sutherland dodge the bombshell. Kimura attempted to fire but knew it was futile since the Sutherland was fully engaged on him and was determined not fall like his comrade. The knightmare fired a missile from its launcher attachment right into the tank. Kimura managed to leap off before it burst into flame, though he could actually feel his clothes catching fire. When he'd rolled onto the ground in a bloody heap, it was clear Kayashi had died in the initial fireball, and it was also clear that Kimura didn't have much time left on Earth. His body was riddled with shrapnel and the burns were too painful to be described. One of his arms was blown clean off.

Shaking with fear and the knowledge he'd never see his little girl's face again, Kimura managed to dig into his good side's pocket with his other arm and found his cell phone, remarkably undamaged. He coughed, blood spraying out in drops. He opened the phone with some effort and went into his speed list, with his brother's phone number on it. He pressed the green talk button and brought it to his ear.

"Kimura? Oh god, where are you? I think a bomb just went off, something just blew up somewhere!" exclaimed the voice on the other side.

Kimura coughed again, trying to form his last words. He wanted to tell his brother to take care of his little Arika, to forgive him for being so foolish, to apologize to the rest of his family in his absence. But nothing came, just more blood. His vision became blurred, his eyelids heavy, and the world started to spin.

"Hello? Hello? Are you there?"

The voice became more and more distant until the line clicked off. Kimura stared at the phone, knowing he'd just been denied the chance to speak with his family one last time. He died in the next minute, never knowing that he'd just saved two Elevens from certain death.

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_Present. Cave outside Shinjuku._

The Sutherland crashed into the trees, sliding and knocking over several before it was rocked into several smaller explosions, and finally into one large one that blew the entire machine to shreds. The end result was yet another bit of fate conspiring against Britannia.

Simon probably hadn't been destined to live in carefree retirement as he'd once hoped. His life had gone downhill thanks to the man before him, he was similar to the dead Lord Gottwald in some ways, like how a Geass had destroyed his comfortable career and his respectable position. He'd been a war hero of sorts before this, it was just too bad Lelouch had come into his life. He had been dead the moment the Geass was cast upon him, even though it was meant to keep him from immediate harm.

Simon turned quickly, for he was no fool to allow an opening, but human reflexes decreed that he react towards the source of the noise. Sayoko grabbed her knife from the pile of clothes (which she'd been preparing behind Lelouch) and charged. Simon fired at the sudden noise, but unfortunately, it only flew past Kallen's outstretched head and into the rock wall. Turning around had strayed his aim, and he'd been preparing to strafe around Lelouch anyway, which was also a factor.

Lelouch didn't see what happened next because it was all too quick and he'd blinked. Kallen saw it, not registering that her head had quite nearly been blown off. Sayoko had twisted the soldier's arm which held his handgun and stabbed Simon through the chest, right where she'd trained herself to...the heart.

Sayoko dropped the man whose last act of sheer will was removing his helmet. In the end, he was just another faceless Britannian who'd perished in a war sparked by Lelouch's selfishness and the Eleven's foolishness. But most of all, it was the fact that all the men and women responsible for the blood spilled this night were shortsighted. Including Zero himself. Shortsighted because they could not see the effect it would have beyond the lands they'd never walked across, like the power plays by corrupt politicians and the rising of rebel groups who'd heard of this one masked Japanese fellow who was causing a stir in Area 11.

Lelouch recognized him. He remembered how he'd laughed at the antics of this very man he'd geassed before. Not laughed out loud, but inwardly he had been chuckling about how smart he was and how stupid Simon was for falling for the Geass he'd never seen coming. Someone he knew from the past was dying, and he hadn't needed to if Lelouch never tempted the strings of his fate.

In a show of mercy, Sayoko took out the knife from its bloody altar and made a quick incision somewhere that finished the job. And suddenly, she started to strip the body.

"What-?"began Kallen.

"If you and I are going to escape, Kallen, we'll need something warm." Sayoko said, taking off the bloodied armor.

Lelouch felt a lump in the back of his throat form. Sayoko had said something Lelouch had been trying to gather the courage to say since they'd started their meaningless run. He'd been hoping for a miracle, say, the ground swallowing them up and transporting them to a magical prairie where nothing bad ever happened. Or perhaps even a fantasy where a brand new super knightmare flew out of nowhere and whisked them away to safety while destroying hundreds of Britannian ships at the same time.

But this is what it had come to, and though Kallen had refused to realize it, Lelouch was going to be captured and would inevitably be killed. Then, Charles might grab a spark of popularity by saying he'd captured the instigator of the bloody rebellion, and then follow up with a useless act to make Numbered people feel like equals. Perhaps after that, the emperor would have someone write him a speech about how he wished to unite all peoples under his holy rule and make the world a peaceful place for all, and how he was willing to work with everyone to make a better nation.

The thought made Lelouch sick.

"I'm not leaving." said Kallen, the futility and naive of the words lost on her.

Lelouch grabbed her by the shoulders with the agility and crudeness of a madman.

"Listen to me. I want you to _live_. There is noone on this Earth that I care about more than you."

And then...then it hit her with the quickness of a lightning bolt. The realization that Lelouch would die. In a classic tale of two star-crossed lovers, this moment would be described as when 'a thousand emotions of sadness and betrayal passed through his/her mind.'

Yet, it was neither sadness nor betrayal, nor the other 996 emotions that passed through her. Just two. The first was hatred, not towards him, but towards herself for not being able to prevent this from all happening. The other emotion was stupidity. Stupidity for believing everything would be all right as long as she kept running.

Lelouch had neither moved nor loosened his hands from their place. All he did was stare at her with a mixture of sadness and determination. Sayoko silently finished stripping the body down to its black boxer shorts. She then walked over to the clothes pile and moved them closer to the fire, despite the fact that when they head out the cloth would just get soaked again.

"Kallen, do you understand?"

That single dreadful word slowly worked its way up. Starting from the dreadful pit of her stomach, it passed through the intestine, flew into the esophagus, and finally...

"Yes."

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_The Avalon. 10:30 P.M_

"Suzaku, you've got to be _fucking_ kidding me!" yelled Gino.

"Mind your voice, Lord Weinburg." was the curt reply.

Gino couldn't bring himself to punch a handicapped man, so he took a few breaths and visibly tried to calm himself. After he'd failed to locate Zero, he'd sent his Tristan back after the retreating Avalon to question Suzaku.

"First, you tell me to let them go, which would assure you a trip to an electric chair if anyone else heard it, mind you. Then, then you have the...the _nerve_ to tell me off?"

Suzaku sighed, clearly exasperated,"What I remember saying is 'don't harm them', not let them go! Gino Weinburg, Knight of Three, I'm afraid you must be arrested on the charges of treason."

Gino backed off from Suzaku in shock as a procession of Britannian soldiers burst into Suzaku's quarters. Gino was understandably surprised, but Suzaku did nothing more than allow himself a slight smirk. The Knight of Three just realized that this room had been bugged, and Suzaku had known. In fact...

Five heavily armored officers swarmed Lord Weinburg, screaming and yelling to panic him. In seconds, one of the Emperor's elite soldiers had a pair of hand cuffs and leg links attached to him. Even with knowing that it was feeble and incriminating to do so, he kicked and flailed with the potency and dignity of a new born child.

"You filthy little liar! You twisted hypocrite! You...traitor!" Gino roared, even as soldiers held down his limbs and prepared to apply a muffler.

In exactly 48 hours, Gino Weingburg would be accused of high treason and insubordination, sentenced to execution, and swiftly hanged.

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**Review and I write faster.**


	19. The Vampire

**Nothing Left - Ch.19**

_**Author's Note: This chapter contains something that may be offending to many religions. Just to be clear, I do believe in Heaven and Hell, I am Christian, and the only reason I put that there is because Lelouch may not agree with me (despite being of the "Holy" empire of Britannia). So, I am DEEPLY sorry if I offend anyone (which is not my intent at all) and if I do, please do contact me so I can fix it. It's probably nothing, but it did offend me kind of even as I wrote it (weird, eh?). So...yeah.**_

**P.S: Couldn't remember if Bismarck's Geass was his left or right eye. Oh, and review for the story.**

**P.S.S: I think perhaps I should refer to Shogo as Asahina from now on. What do you guys think? Oh, and review for the story.**

_**REVIEW!**_

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_Dock. Diethard's Rendezvous Point. 10:50._

What an unfitting end for three great warriors, thought Xingke. As all great men who fall, they'd made a foolish mistake; assuming they could leave their knightmares with no consequence. Perhaps if Xingke hadn't trusted Diethard, they wouldn't be facing an armada of Sutherlands and the Knight of One's Galahad. Li Xingke had been double-crossed, and what made that even more ironic was that it was by a traitorous Britannian whose head was plastered on wanted posters. There was no hope for Tianzi either, who Xingke had left in ShenHu (as not to get wet). Quite unexpectedly, Bismarck exited his knightmare with nothing to defend himself. He activated the lift on Galahad to lower him to the ground, jumped, and strode over to Xingke and his Japanese allies, wearing his traditional scowl.

"Instigators of rebellion, terrorists, I hereby place you-"

Xingke dashed madly towards Barganing Chip, (who preferred to be called Lord Waldstein), grabbing his sword in one hand and his gun in the other. Bismarck simply smiled and his right eye's stitches fell off, revealing the blazing emblem of a bird embedded in his iris.

Just as Xingke felt he could actually subdue Waldstein, he felt his warning slash and shot go awry as Bismarck dashed forward and gripped him, restraining him by using his muscular arms to hold Xingke's weapons in a manner that could not do harm. Xingke groaned in pain as his sword dropped with a clatter, his gun following suit after a failed attempt of firing a few bullets into the Knight of One's flesh, the shots instead impacting on the side of Galahad.

"-Under arrest,"finished Waldstein. He hadn't really planned to use his Geass so freely, but he also hadn't expected Xingke to be so fast and courageous under the pressure. Surely this man would have been a worthy opponent if he'd fought against Bismarck using that experimental Chinese/Britannian frame in front of the wrecked Burai.

Toudou, though he possessed a gun, could not bring himself to fire at Waldstein for two simple reasons. One, there were Sutherlands pointing enormous rifles into his face and a few very convincing orders shouted at him to drop the weapon, and two, both Shogo and Toudou would be caught in an imminent blast if he did not concede. Frankly, he wasn't very keen on the idea of getting Shogo killed...sooner than he had to.

A seaknight transport offlloaded Britannian soldiers just then, much to the chagrin of some Britannian knightmare pilots who remarked that they were "late to the party".

One soldier slung his rifle and reset the safety after seeing that the action was over. That same soldier ran over to Waldstein and murmured some things that only Xingke could hear.

"Orders have arrived to take them all to Pendragon."

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_Cave outside Shinjuku. 11:30 P.M._

Once, Simon Cutting had had a family, as all people do. The dead man before Lelouch Vi Britannia came out of his mother's womb, prepared to meet the world. Ever since he was born, this was the moment he'd been destined to stop breathing. What a waste living was, Lelouch thought, for there was always a sticky, sad little ending for each person. A human being lived to die, no matter how powerful or mighty. The holy grail for a man is living as long as possible, and yet when they reach an old age, they find they are so weak that they are ready to accept death.

Looking at the half-naked corpse brought even darker thoughts back to Lelouch. This man was no different than a dead man from the Euphemia Slaughter, begging for Zero to save them as they were obliterated. And yet, Lelouch had not cared for one drop of blood spilled that day, besides Euphie's. Instead of mourning for the meaningless loss of life he'd caused, all Lelouch had done to repent was excuse their deaths as casualties to his cause and move on.

Birth. Life. Death.

That was all there _was_. Humans knew that, but hid the truth with promises of a great afterlife as long as they were 'good'. Follow the commandments of your religion and you'll go to a magical place when you die. But if you're bad, you'd better watch out, because you're going to Hell. So, in that logic, life is a test to seperate the good people from the bad people for the afterlife. However, those people who cheerfully referred to themselves as atheists say they live life to its fullest, which could range to simple mischeif now and then to malicious crimes that destroyed their fellow man. When you put all the religions and non-religions together, that's what humans called "conflicting opinions."

Was it a lie? The promises of the Great Beyond? Perhaps there was no such place for a human soul to go when it no longer had a vessel. Perhaps there was no such thing as a human soul.

Lelouch twirled the pistol in his fingers. Kallen had taken the rifle and Sayoko was no good with guns, so they'd just left the sidearm behind. He'd had a negative significance on the world, no matter what kind of banner he'd hid behind. The flag of justice was what he showed the world, but the flag of vengeance was the one that waved within his heart.

It was ok to kill that guy over there because his emperor was called Charles and he's a bad man. That guy over there is also bad because he carries a gun and has an emperor called Charles. That guy too, sure he has a family, but he's bad, who cares if he doesn't see them again? Why, there's so many bad people, why not kill them? That was the logic of every 'freedom fighter' in the rebellion, perhaps they did not say it in so many words, but they just thought, no, they _knew_ that there were bad guys and there were good guys. And, of course, they were the good guys.

"Drop the weapon!"called a metallic voice from the bushes. Instantly, a dozen heavily armored Britannian soldiers carrying anti-ballistic shields poured into the cave after a series of "Go's!" by the squad captain.

Lelouch dropped the weapon that he'd never planned on using. One soldier unnecessarily dashed forward and kicked the weapon away, pointing his automatic weapon at Lelouch's skull. Obviously, he wanted to be the one with special mention for capturing the fugitive.

"Stand down,"called a sardonic voice from behind. The soldier hesitantly stepped aside, knowing that he'd lost his chance for glory. There Lelouch saw none other than the Knight of Ten, Luciano Bradley.

"Honestly,"drawled Bradley, licking his lips in anticipation of the reward he'd recieve,"All these Britannian special forces out here, and only the Grausam Valkryies could locate you? Tsk, tsk, but I suppose only the Vincent models could locate your thermal signature in this weather."

Lelouch cringed under that insufferable glare of Bradley's. There was nothing but murderous intent and greed in those eyes. Bradley himself was wearing a lavish cloak of brown and yellow that suited his flaming orange hair well, and, of course, he had a woman whom Lelouch took to be a Grausam Valkryie carry an umbrella over his head as not to catch a cold. In his gloved hand, he held a knife with a gold-covered hilt. Either he planned to use it for dramatic effect, or the Vampire of Britannia was looking for the slightest excuse to utilize force. Behind him were two other women of the Grausam Valkryies, the fourth one probably circling the area for a threat that would never come.

"If you wish to toy with me, that's fine. I have nothing else to lose,"replied Lelouch automatically. The thought of using his Geass flashed through his mind briefly, but just getting rid of the Knight of Ten would do nothing other than give Lelouch personal pleasure. Bradley must have known this as well, and he was also aware that Lelouch was no fool. The soldiers all around them were wearing visors and were armed to the teeth, while Bradley and the three Valkryies had naught but the capacity of knives that Bradley could keep on his person.

"Oh?"replied Bradley in a sadistic tone. The Vampire eyed the corpse of Simon Cutting before a twisted grin ran through his features.

"This isn't a gun wound,"observed the Knight of Ten, kicking over the bloodied corpse, even as the men around him winced in disgust.

"Does it matter how he died?"said Lelouch slowly, not quite thinking straight.

Bradley chuckled. "Well, well. It seems you must have a dagger on your person then. That, or you have bodyguards."

Before Lelouch could stop himself, he let out a little gasp of frustration. Bradley was getting warmer. As Lelouch was trying to find a reasonable excuse, a man came from behind Bradley and coughed, drawing everyones attention simultaneously.

"Dispatch from the Avalon,"he announced, producing a slip of paper out of his armor.

Bradley took it with some annoyance, expecting it to be an order to oversee battle somewhere that had become too hot for normal troops to handle. However, as his eyes scanned the paper, his grin returned, more twisted than ever. He waved the paper around in a triumphant sort of way.

"So, you have a middle-aged woman dressed as a maid and a young woman who is suspected to be the ex-pilot of Guren as your companions? Now, I wonder where they could have run off to?"

Lelouch wanted to just jump up and grab Bradley and wring his scrawny little neck. Why was he torturing him like this? It was as if Bradley was trying to squeeze every last drop of pleasure he could out of his target.

"And,"continued Bradley,"I very much doubt you wear a skirt, little prince."

Lelouch was aghast for a moment before noticing Sayoko had left her maid skirt in favor of Simon's warmer leggings (it turned out that Simon had worn layers, much to the joy of both Kallen and Sayoko). How could he, Lelouch, have not considered to get rid of the evidence that he'd had companions? Perhaps he could have shot Simon a few times in random places just to divert Bradley's eye from the knife wound. But no, Lelouch had been too busy wallowing in self-pity to even consider taking such precautions.

"Bradley..."spat Lelouch in an infuriated undertone. He attempted to snatch the contact lens from his eye, but the soldier next to him found his excuse for honorable mention by restraining the prince and placing his own visor on him, effectively cutting off Lelouch's Geass.

"My, my,"said Bradley, quite amused by this point."What a reaction! You must have quite a deep tie with them...or perhaps just one of them? Perhaps maybe one is just the bodyguard with the knife and the other is so important that you'd leave yourself behind to protect her? Is that it? Come now, tell me, or my curiosity will force me to go ask them myself."

Try as he might, Lelouch could simply not contain the shock of hearing his entire 'plan' spoken aloud by the sadist Vampire of Britannia. An audible and obviously distressed gasp passed through his lips, inciting another chuckle from the Knight of Ten.

"Why, its too easy getting a reaction out of someone who has nothing left to lose,"mocked Bradley.

"Umm...Lord Bradley, our orders to bring the prince to Pendragon were of the highest priority..."reminded a timid Valkryie.

Bradley waved her off instead of rounding on her, drawing a small headset earphone and bringing his mouth to it.

"Lilyna, continue to use your thermal scans to search the entire green area outlying Shinjuku. Your targets are two women, I will send more ground and knightmare troops to aid you. Priority is high."

Bradley pocketed the earphone and smirked as Lelouch struggled under the grasp of the strong Britannian restraining him, desperately trying to pull off the visor and the lens that halted his Geass.

Yet another Britannian soldier marched into the cave, holding a slip of paper in his hands he'd cradled from the rain. It seemed there was an active watch duty that had soldiers to deliver dispatches for especially sensitive operations. Bradley snatched it absently, almost cutting the soldier with the knife he still held in one hand.

"Seems I have you until the Avalon returns, perhaps I can take your lady friends along for the ride once they are found this way. Woudn't that be fun? Maybe i'll even let one of them stay in my quarters..."Bradley trailed off, enjoying the delicious expression of helplessness radiating out of Lelouch.

Lelouch had never been more wrong. He had not yet lost everything, not until the Vampire has had its way.

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_An hour earlier. Cave Outside the Shinjuku Ghetto._

_"Kallen, do you understand?"_

_That single dreadful word slowly worked its way up. Starting from the dreadful pit of her stomach, it passed through the intestine, flew into the esophagus, and finally..._

_"Yes."_

"Good,"said Lelouch, suddenly feeling his stomach turn with the realization that he'd just signed his death warrant. But as long as Kallen was safe, that didn't matter, of course.

Kallen turned away, collecting her clothing and some of Simon's bloodstained undershirts.

"Lelouch..."she started.

"Kallen, there's...no time left."

Kallen's beautiful blue eyes met Lelouch's. It looked as if she was about to cry, yet Lelouch knew better than that. Kallen Stadtfeld nor Karen Kozuki would weep so openly (perhaps once or twice to Lelouch), and besides, she understood what kind of agony it would cause him in his last moments to remember her crying.

"I just want to say that...I know you would die for me, Lelouch. But...try living for me instead."

Poor girl, she was deluding herself. It was like saying "try to blow up a knightmare with a butter knife."

And yet...

"If there's a way,"Lelouch said slowly,"then i'll...think of something."

He wasn't serious of course, and Kallen knew it. Sayoko rested a hand on Kallen's shoulder as her way of silently urging their leave. It seemed that Sayoko was the only one thinking straight by this point, both Lelouch and Kallen were too dazed by the knowledge that they'd never see each other (alive) again.

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_Present._ _Broadcast Station in Pendragon._

"He dead?" asked the supervisor, gazing at the limp form of the Britannian.

The security guard who'd shot him seemed a bit dazed from the gruesome act of shooting a man in the head. He kicked over the corpse and recoiled, turning away from the disgusting sight of the jaw literally blown open, the flesh in the victim's cheeks now nothing more than thin little strips. The man was still alive, but another bullet to the brain solved that. A minute passed in silence as they tried to not look at the body while the paramedics were on their way. Of course, all their job would require is removing the body.

"You're quite sure this is the one who's been keeping this channel's frequency tuned into the rebellion feed?"asked the security guard.

"No doubt,"was the squeaky reply. Sure he'd seen dead bodies, but only when the tech spooks had censored the 'rated' stuff out.

"Isn't the channel blanking out right now with nothing to broadcast?" reminded the guard.

"Oh yes...I need to prepare a message."

The guard raised his brow. "What message? Are you just going on with the night's news?"

"Of course not...I think I should prepare a statement for the anchor to read off about how the rebellion is being taken care of and there is nothing to fear."

Just then, the flustered secretary who'd spent all night taking panicked calls from Britannian citizens came up behind them. She gave a slight shriek when she saw the body and turned away, perhaps choking on her own vomit.

"Umm...sir. Critic-level message from the fax, directly from the military building. We have to send a broadcast about the first prince once we've taken control of the frequency."

The supervisor stepped towards her, glad to find an excuse to get away from the corpse,"Is he alright? I've been wondering if Prince Odysseus lived through that barbaric attack on the Forbidden City."

"Sir, just what-?"she started, pointing at the body with a visible grimace.

"I believe I asked you a question,"came the response through gritted teeth.

The woman nodded,"The message says that he's being transported back to Pendragon."

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**Obviously, these are the final chapters. There's still some ways to go, but the story is definetly drawing to a close. This piece of writing was mostly a test for me to improve, and i'd like your opinions to see if I was successful in that. Thanks so much for being patient and reading this story, I really appreciate it.**

**Oh and im sorry I suck at romance. **

**Oh and Review.**


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